The Substitute
by Anticipate
Summary: Serena never really asked for much from him. She never had to. When she learned the truth, she began to wonder exactly what he had asked of her. Amourshipping, SatoSere, etc.
1. Chapter 1: Calem

Serena's clear blue eyes darted around hurriedly, flicking from one of her companions to the next, as if she expected one of them to suddenly assault her with the question the rational side of her mind attempted desperately to remind her would be impossible for any of them to ask. A glance at Lumiose City gym leader and inventor Clemont, fiddling with her town map as he tried to determine the swiftest route to their next destination, Snowbelle City. A glimpse to his lemon-haired sibling, Bonnie, as she played with Dedenne and Squishy, the mysterious pokémon they had ran into not too long ago and was being followed by a mysterious group of people. A jaded flash of the enticing and warm early afternoon Kalos forest environment that surrounded the route around them, bringing the dirt path under their feet to life with the sounds of rustling bushes and breezes swaying the leaves of trees carrying the promise of change as they travelled away from her recent Master Class performance in Gloire City. One incredibly brief peek at the business card tucked securely in her pocket, the rough paper a sobering reminder of the risk she was undertaking to continue her journey and the source of her anxiety. Finally, Serena's eyes found a target they could rest on in the unofficial leader of their merry band, Ash Ketchum. As he excitedly discussed battle strategies for his upcoming eighth and final gym battle at Snowbelle City with his partner Pikachu, who was perched on his shoulder comfortably, the pokémon master in training raised his cap to run a hand through his raven-colored hair, turning his head to catch the brilliant light of the sun perfectly in his own brown eyes. The feeling Serena was suppressing even more vigorously than the physical secret of the incredible offer promised by the coffee colored paper in the deepest recesses of her person found a way to surface itself, and a stream of... longing? Desire? No, she knew the word for the feeling coursing through her body.

 _Attraction. It was never anything but admiration and, well, attraction. He's so dense, brave, strong, and... attractive... hold on, why am I doing this to myself?! You can't think like this anymore! It would never work out with the offer you've been handed. Training under the one of the former best performers in the world..._

The runner up to the title of Kalos Queen's conscious was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder from Clemont, causing the performer to start slightly, as if she was being slapped. The other lemon-haired member of the party threw a confused, slightly concerned look Serena's way before returning the pink map of Kalos he had borrowed to its owner and silently indicating the route he had selected for the next leg of their journey. Serena's initial terror at being contacted was erased into befuddlement at the unusual method of communication her friend was employing. When she saw what she had just been handed she understood why.

"Ten days?! Are you serious?! That's so long!" Serena whispered to Clemont with as roaring of a voice as any whisper could possibly be.

Clemont's silence now made sense. They had already gone out of their way on their journey to attend Serena's Master Class performance in Gloire City, an incredibly rare deviation from Ash's normal mentality of travelling from gym to gym and desperately fighting any major edits in the fastest possible course. The decision was so unique that Serena had begun to wonder and even fantasize about the possibility of Ash having some sort of reciprocation for her feelings. This hope evaporated just as quickly when Bonnie had commented on the move not an hour later and Ash had simply stated that he felt his pokémon needed more training before their next gym battle, the density of the aspiring pokémon master crushing the honey blonde performer's dreams while reminding her why she had them in the first place. Learning the scope of said detour would likely ruin the jovial mood of both Ash and Bonnie, a situation neither of the more level-headed members of the group were willing to create.

"That's what the map is telling me. No matter what route we take, it should take us at least ten days to make it to Snowbelle City for Ash's next gym battle," Clemont spoke with a small exhale, shifting his glasses up his nose in sober acceptance. "But hey, it's just more travelling, right? As long as we enjoy it and Ash never figures out how long we've been on the road, there shouldn't be any problems!" Clemont's voice rose to a level of normal conversation as he perked himself up, and Serena couldn't help but nod at his all-too-common impeccability in logic.

"Of course. We aren't pressured for time or anything, and I'm sure Ash wouldn't mind too much even if we told him," Serena agreed, mustering up a smile for the effort Clemont had put into finding a route and fixing her device after she had run into problems using her map, the screen's display breaking and appearing in patches before seemingly recovering itself at random, although Clemont insisted there was nothing out of order with her mapping system.

Clemont didn't need to know she was lying. There was no telling how long Palermo would be willing to keep the offer open, regardless of whether she wanted to take it or not, which was another reason that she couldn't allow any of her friends to know of the risk she was taking in continuing her travels with them. It was far too easy to envision the series of events snowballing into Serena getting dumped off alone at the nearest communication device should Ash or the others discover her secret, to the point that Serena thought of her future as a bleak certainty should the business card leave her possession. The largest unknowing proponent of said inhibition towards dialing the number printed on the ticket to success in her pocket spoke up as he recognized his name appear in conversation. "Did you two need something over there? Are you alright, Serena? You look a bit pale," Ash spoke with a turn of his head, his partner Pikachu pouncing onto its trainer's head to mime the piercing gaze.

Serena let out a tiny eep and quietly yelled at herself to relax. Freaking out about every little thing would only make everyone suspicious and more likely to learn about her card. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine, fine, everything is fine here, I just, um... need to spend more time in the sun is all! Yeah, that's it!" While waving her hands in front of her rapidly wasn't the most inconspicuous way to sell her white lie, Ash thankfully seemed to be placated by the reasoning, at least until Bonnie got involved.

"But, Serena! You're turning all red now! Are you surrrrre you're alright? You aren't thinking about something? Or someone-" A sly smile decorated Bonnie's face as Serena rushed to interrupt the youngest member of the group.

"BONNIE!" Serena's shout left her mouth as she gripped her red vest tightly in both hands, drawing it closely over her pink dress and black tank top defensively.

Ash was clearly confused, but he instinctively defended Serena. "Bonnie, cut it out. Whatever you're saying is bothering Serena," he commanded neutrally, offering no room for argument.

Bonnie simply grinned, knowing her work trying to put everyone in their group in a couple was satisfied for now. Serena took a deep breath and returned herself to homeostasis. "I'm fine, really, Ash, just working on our route with Clemont. Please don't worry over me." A genuine smile found its way to the performers way as she spoke to her crush, as it often had a way of doing around the boy, and Ash reciprocated the expression.

"You know I know that you're strong, Serena. I just worry sometimes, you know?" The boy looked like he wanted to continue, but seemed to realize what he said and quickly returned to his conversation with Pikachu, as if he hadn't quite meant for his sentence to come out in the way that it did.

Serena shook this off and exchanged a shrug to sum up the encounter with Clemont. "Do you want me to say something to Bonnie? I apologize for whatever she was about to say just now," Clemont spoke uncertainly, assuring Serena that he understood Bonnie's implication just as well as Ash did.

 _Oh well. They don't know about the card. That's what's important, for now._ "No, it's fine. I guess I've just been a bit jumpy ever since the Master Class performance. It's still hard to believe it all really happened," Serena responded, not completely fibbing this time.

"Alright then, if you're certain. It's fine to feel a bit strange after such a big event. I felt that way after my gym battle with Ash. The enthusiasm he brought to that battle really took a lot out of me, but that was what made it memorable, I suppose." Clemont's head exited the path and returned to the moment to reminisce.

"Yeah. Ash really is amazing, isn't he?" Serena praised.

"Oh certainly! I've never seen a trainer with such a pure, unadulterated love for pokémon like Ash has! It's scientifically unfathomable, believe me!" Clemont's excitement for science and invention never failed to trickle into his speech, no matter the topic.

Serena hadn't ever truly considered it, but in witnessing Clemont's pleasant nostalgic trip combined with his gushing over science, there was something regarding these common moments, where the four of them were simply walking down a path, chattering amongst themselves or just taking in the environment, that made Serena want the journey she had undertaken to last forever. If there was ever a favorite moment on her travels she could point at and name for herself, then the simplicity behind being around friends that never seemed to come easily to her in every moment when nothing special or interesting was happening were her favorite moments. What she had considered plenty of times before was the object of Ash's affections, aside from food and pokémon battling that is. "Yeah... I wish he felt that way about me..." Serena spoke her mind, not realizing she hadn't told her mouth not to vocalize her thoughts.

"Huh?" Clemont's gaze tore itself away from Bonnie to the friend at his side.

Serena realized her mistake and backpedalled quickly. "Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it." She kept herself completely calm, inside screaming for Clemont to overlook the transgression of her tongue.

"Alright then. You know you can tell me anything, Serena, but I won't pry if you don't want me to." Clemont clearly hadn't inherited the nosiness his sister had in spades.

Serena released a breath she didn't know she had been holding. _I need to be more careful. A slip like that in front of Bonnie and I would never hear the end of it. I have to find the right moment if, no, when I'm ready to say something. Until then... just take things a day at a time, and keep the card hidden._ That internal decision made, Serena nodded to Clemont before starting another conversation with him about one of the inventions she knew he was working on, a machine designed to perfectly imitate a dedenne so that Dedenne could have a friend to play with when Bonnie was tired. Ash overheard this and ended up launching into a story about how he once travelled to an island full of giant pokémon that turned out to be just massive automations of the real deals, impressing Clemont with the science behind said creations and Serena with the strangeness of such an adventure. This was why she loved journeying, to experience the pure euphoria she received from learning new things about herself, her friends and the world around her, particularly about Ash and the incredible things he had already accomplished on his journey before he even met her again after their first fateful encounter at a Kanto summer camp all those years ago. She couldn't imagine having to part with Ash again, or the siblings for that matter, not when there was so much to learn that the performer couldn't help but feel the least bit inadequate compared to the other members of their party, with Ash's extensive travels, Clemont's science and gym battle expertise, and even Bonnie's strangely sage advice when it came to emotion, a sorely lacking subject for the two guys. _It's my duty to support Ash after everything he's done for me. And maybe, just maybe, I still have a chance to get him to understand how I feel. I just can't tell him about the card._ As the conversation between the four continued, Bonnie was the first to notice the person standing under a tree on the side of the path in front of them, right in a fork in the road, with one side clearly branching of into a less oft used path that wasn't even on Serena's map from the examination of their route marked out for them. When the person noticed the group, he stopped tossing a poké ball causually in his hand and stepped out into the light of the road with the confidence of repetition.

"I don't suppose any one of you would be willing to battle another trainer, would you?" he asked innocuously.

Ash's magic words were spoken, and he jumped to the head of the group, Pikachu bristling with electricity excitedly on his shoulder. "A battle would be awesome! I've been meaning to try out some techniques for my next gym battle!" he spoke with unabashed enthusiasm.

The guy chuckled heartily at Ash's headfirst approach, and motioned into the trees. "Alright then, there's a clearing just through the woods here. Follow me." He swiveled on his feet and paced quickly back towards and past the tree he had been standing under, not checking to ensure he was being followed and forcing everyone else to jog lightly to keep up with him. Thankfully, he wasn't kidding when he said the clearing was nearby, and soon Ash was staring down the mysterious trainer across from him while Clemont took the position of referee. "Is a one on one battle alright with both of you?" Clemont asked.

"Sounds good, Clemont!" Ash called, giving a thumbs up, while his opponent simply nodded in contemplation.

"Alright, then as soon as you send out your pokémon, the battle between Ash and..." Clemont paused awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry, it's Calem. I forget to name myself sometimes," Calem sheepishly admitted, rubbing the back of his head.

"Alright, then the battle between Ash and Calem will be allowed to commence!" Clemont finished his obligatory introduction to the battle as both sides selected a poké ball, Pikachu pouting a little at missing the chance for a scrap.

As the sound of it reverberated through the air, Serena could swear she had heard that name, Calem, before, although she couldn't quite place where. The green poké ball logo t-shirt, ripped up jeans, black boots, red outdoors hat, sunglasses strewn carelessly across the aforementioned cap, and olive green bag revealed little except that Ash's opponent was a traveler, at least a few years older than they were. His grip tightened over the poké ball in his hand before he tossed it in a high arc in the air, brilliant white light spurting out of it in all directions before focusing itself and coalescing into the form of a large, tan pokémon with spikes on its back and large clawed hands and feet. "Alright, Spike, it's showtime," Calem spoke in a mellow, almost passive tone.

Bonnie, standing at Serena's side, jumped up and down excitedly. "Serena, I know that pokémon! It's a Chesnaught! We met one not too long ago, right?" she asked eagerly.

The energy the little firecracker displayed at the mere sight of any pokémon, even ones they had seen before, never failed to form a smile on Serena's face. "Yep! I guess Calem named it Spike, then. It looks a bit bigger than the one we helped out in the desert, though..." Serena checked her pokédex quickly and realized that the Chesnaught in front of them was indeed a bit taller than the average height of 1.6 meters, potentially even slightly leaner as well.

Calem noticed the interest his chosen battler was receiving. "Well, Spike here was my first pokémon. You don't journey for as long as we have without getting a bit better than average," Calem nonchalantly bragged, his pokémon flexing a bit at the praise while its trainer chuckled to himself.

Ash was, as Serena expected, not deterred. "Then that means this battle will just be a lot more fun! Hawlucha, let's go!" Ash chucked the poké ball containing his flying-fighting type pokémon into the air, releasing it into the sky and allowing the wrestling pokémon to perform a front flip before landing and posing dramatically on the ground.

Clemont looked between the two and raised his hands before lowering them just as quickly. "Alright, battle begin!"

"Hawlucha, high jump kick, go!" Ash called out immediately.

"Lucha lucha!" Hawlucha cried as it bolted forward before using the ground as a spring to launch its glowing knee into the unprotected chest of its foe with a force that shoved the pair backwards a few feet. Chesnaught grunted as it took the attack, but as the luminous glow faded away from Hawlucha's attack, the larger pokémon was still standing there, a lazy smile even decorating its face.

Calem tilted his head to the side a bit. "I hope you have something to use other than brute force in this battle, Ash."

Ash frowned. Serena knew that brute force was the main strategy Ash employed with Hawlucha, and, that failing, Ash would be forced to rely on his innovative battle strategies that he often came up with on the fly. It became apparent that Ash wasn't ready to give up the assault just yet. "Keep pushing, Hawlucha, karate chop, and don't let up!"

As Hawlucha drew back its arm to cut across Spike, Calem sighed. "You know what to do, friend."

Chesnaught nodded before placing one arm defensively over its vulnerable chest. As Hawlucha brought its strike forward, a green shield suddenly sprang from the arm and varying lengths of spikes sprouted from the verdant base. It was too late for Hawlucha to react as its arm was rammed at full force into a wall of pain, the momentum of the rebound sending Ash's pokémon flying backwards, crying out in agony as it gripped its injured arm. Serena was amazed. The chesnaught had given Hawlucha no time to react, and the effects were clear in the apparent shock that Hawlucha was in over having hurt itself instead of its foe. Spike sauntered over to the wrestler. Calem smirked slightly, but maintained his even tone. "Alright, Spike. Drop the hammer, will you?" he requested.

Serena panicked for Ash. Hawlucha was still reeling on the ground, and whatever Spike was about to do, it certainly wasn't going to be conducive to Hawlucha's success. She found one hand interlocked tightly with Bonnie's and the other on her blue ribbon, the gift from Ash a favored target for her hand when she got nervous. She didn't realize that Ash was just waiting for the chance to strike. "Hawlucha, now, x-scissor! Go for the knees!"

As Spike raised both arms high above its head, Hawlucha suddenly turned on its heels and revealed the x-scissor attack it had been hiding from its larger opponent. It was Spike's turn to not have time to react as Hawlucha cut quickly across the legs of the pokémon, the super effective attack having a much more noticeable effect, Chesnaught dropping to one knee and roaring in anger. Calem raised an eyebrow as Hawlucha jumped backwards, away from the attack being prepared against it. "Hey, that's on us, Spike. Don't let it get away with that again," he called out, showing a bit of... enthusiasm? It was difficult for Serena to discern.

Chesnaught grunted again before struggling to two feet. Ash wasn't about to give it the chance to fully recover. "Hawlucha, let's wrap it up quick with flying press!"

Hawlucha sprinted forward, baffling Calem and Spike, both expecting Hawlucha to jump into the air, only for Hawlucha to use Chesnaught's head as a springboard and stagger the pokémon before turning as it rose into the air to start to bring a hard flying press down on the enemy. Whatever emotion Calem had been experiencing, it vanished. "Swat it, Spike," he commanded.

"Chesaught!" the final evolved form of chespin exclaimed as one of its arms again began to glow green, this time enveloping the arm in the casing of a bright green log, which it promptly brought around to slam heavily into Hawlucha right as it was about to make contact with an unprecedented speed. The incredible brute force of the attack knocked the fighting-flying type clear off its course and into a nearby tree, the impact actually shattering the bark and sending Hawlucha through the trunk until it disappeared into the woods.

Clemont paused, partially in shock, and partially to see if Hawlucha would recover. Looking at the dumbfounded expression on Ash's face convinced him that a dramatic recovery wouldn't be happening. "Hawlucha is unable to battle! The winner is Calem's chesnaught, Spike!" Clemont raised a hand to Calem's side to accompany his official statement of victory.

"Hawlucha! Are you alright?!" Ash called to his fighter before running into the site where Hawlucha had disappeared, reemerging with a badly bruised and unconscious hawlucha.

Calem simply nodded and returned his pokémon to its poké ball, Spike only standing up a little straighter in acknowledgement of its success. Serena's heart sank. She hated seeing Ash lose, even in a simple battle against a passing trainer. "Ummm, Serena? Can you let me go? Please?" Bonnie chirped nervously.

Serena looked down and realized the battle had caused her to adopt a death grip over her friend's hand, and she quickly released the girl. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Bonnie! I didn't realize-" Serena was cut off by Bonnie again breaking out into a large smile.

"Wasn't that battle cool?! Spike is so strong! Hawlucha fought really hard, too!" Bonnie spoke excitedly.

Serena grinned. She was lucky Bonnie had been so interested in the match. Calem stepped forward to meet Ash and held out a small pale object with six triangular points sticking out from its center. "Here, Ash. Give this to Hawlucha. It will make your pokémon fighting fit in no time," Calem informed his former opponent.

Ash set Hawlucha down gingerly and took the medicine from Calem, examining it curiously before shrugging and giving it to Hawlucha. The effects were nearly instantaneous. Hawlucha's eyes snapped open and it jumped to its feet, posing before stopping to swivel around confusedly, as if it thought the battle was still going. Ash, Serena and Bonnie were taken aback at the power of the item, while Clemont simply stepped forward and allowed his glasses to glint knowingly. "That was a max revive, right? Those are very hard to come by. Where did you get it?" Clemont asked.

Calem shrugged. "I have several of them, and I felt a bit bad that Spike had knocked Hawlucha around so hard. He doesn't know his own strength sometimes. That one I think I found on route 8. In any case, you, with the yellow bag. What is that you have in there?" Calem finished answering Clemont and pointed to Bonnie, still standing on the mock sidelines of the battlefield.

Bonnie pointed to herself. "Me? My bag just has Dedenne and Squishy in it. Dedenne, Squishy, say hello!" Bonnie cheerily commanded, she and Serena moving closer to join the guys.

Dedenne and Squishy poked their heads out of their pseudo-trainer's bag and gazed at the newcomer. Calem squinted at Squishy, something Serena had gotten used to. After all, it was likely a completely new species of pokémon. "Can't say I've ever seen a Squishy before. Would you mind if I... held it?" Calem cautiously asked.

Bonnie's grin faded into uncertainty. "I don't know... That's up to Squishy, not me."

Squishy looked directly at Calem for a moment that Serena felt like hung in the air for a solid eternity before looking up at Bonnie and nodding. Bonnie looked surprised, and Serena couldn't blame her, but nevertheless, the girl removed Squishy from its home and passed it gently over to Calem. He began to stroke Squishy gently, examining every angle of the creature. "Fascinating... It really does look like a new pokémon. You four are rather lucky to discover such a thing." He gently returned Squishy to its owner, the green blob sighing in content, seeming to have appreciated its time with the trainer.

Ash, not one to bother with science save to comment on how amazing it was, spoke up. "Hey, Calem, are you collecting gym badges like I am?" he inquired.

Calem chuckled and shook his head, digging into his bag to procure a derelict badge case, the official league logo and colors faded into nearly ambiguous spatters of vague shapes by time. "I'm afraid not. My last gym battle was several years ago." He opened the case to reveal eight dusty badges. "I'm actually on my way to the Suicune Festival in Cinder Town, and I just wanted to see if I could snag a quick battle beforehand," he explained.

Serena's interest was piqued. "Suicune Festival? What's that? Oh, I'm Serena, by the way, and the siblings are Clemont and Bonnie. You know Ash already," Serena spoke in introduction, indicating each person she named with a hand gesture in turn.

Clemont and Bonnie nodded in greeting while Calem smiled at each of them. "A pleasure to meet you all, truly. The Suicune Festival is a three-day event held in Cinder Town, during which its residents celebrate the yearly visitation of Suicune, the legendary pokémon of the north wind, to purify the river that runs through the town. Without the original purification Suicune gave to the river, the town would never have been able to develop in the first place," Calem elucidated.

Serena felt herself light up with excitement. "You mean there's a pokémon that can clean water with just its presence? And it appears every year in town?" She couldn't help but get a bit excited at the prospect of seeing a real legendary pokémon, the kind her mother used to tell her stories about when she wasn't being forced into ryhorn racing training against her will.

"Yes, and well, not exactly. Suicune supposedly only makes an appearance at the shrine located at the mouth of the river, although its location is undisclosed to the public. Everyone hangs out at the river to watch it become pure, instead. It's quite the sight to see." Calem had fixed his view in the distance as he spoke, remembering the event.

Startlingly, Ash nodded in agreement. "I remember when I saw Suicune purify a lake. It was really awesome to see it in action!" he exalted.

Calem, along with everyone else, stared at Ash in disbelief. "I'm sorry, you've seen Suicune in action before?" Calem questioned.

"Never mind that, why didn't you ever tell us!?" Bonnie complained into Ash's face.

The trainer looked to Serena for support, only to receive the same question being asked by her gaze. "Oh, um, well... it never really came up in conversation, but yes, I've met Suicune. It was quite an adventure, believe me." Ash looked ready to launch into said story, only for Calem to check his pokétch and slap his forehead disappointedly.

"Stranger things have happened than running into someone who has met Suicune, I suppose, but would you look at the time, I need to get to the festival now. Would the four of you like to join me? It's always more exciting to have company." He smiled innocently at the group.

Serena was ready to jump on the offer, as was Bonnie, but the performer withheld her enthusiasm when she checked to ensure that Ash was willing to go. Having seen Suicune before and looking at his only mildly interested expression, as well as Clemont indicating the already lengthy time period they were to spend on the road, Serena decided to take it upon herself to reject the offer so that Ash could reach his next destination without any more detours. As she opened her mouth to speak, Calem did. "The Champion Diantha is going to be there this afternoon for an exhibition battle, if that would be something that interests an aspiring league challenger, Ash."

Serena knew it had been decided the moment Calem uttered the word champion. "Well I can't miss that! Let's go check out this festival, guys!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.

Bonnie hopped up and down in anticipation, Calem grinned, and Clemont simply sighed and allowed himself a small smile while Serena nodded in agreement with Ash's decision. She checked her tablet map for Cinder Town and confirmed that there was in fact a local festival being held there. It wasn't widely known of outside of the side of the region they were on, which would explain why Serena had never heard of it, but it was clear that this was the event to attend if you were in the area. More importantly, she found that there was a fireworks show at the end of the second day. _If only I could somehow get Ash to agree to watch them with me..._ She hid her wistful thinking from her spoken words more effectively this time. "Sounds like a plan, Ash! This should be fun!" Serena affirmed for her crush.

That decided, Calem took the point position of the group. "Follow me, then. We're not that far from Cinder Town, so I'll guide you," Calem instructed.

The new group of five set off in the direction they had came, Calem leading the way while Bonnie pestered him with questions about everything ranging from Spike to Suicune to what he thought the weather would be like tomorrow while Clemont did his absolute best to wrangle his little sister. Serena realized she was now essentially walking alone with Ash, the three people in front of them a million miles away in terms of the amount of attention they were paying. She felt the same urges swirling around with nervous inhibitions inside of her as she tried to decide what to say to him. Starting was always the toughest part for her. Thankfully, Ash had something in mind. "Hey, Serena, would you mind if we only spent today of the three days at the festival? I really want to get to my next gym battle as soon as possible, but if you really want to stay to see the purification of the river, then we can stick around." He rubbed his nose as he spoke, and a small note regarding how cute he looked when he was nervous couldn't be withheld from entering Serena's thoughts.

"Ash, I would never try to delay you from getting to your next gym battle if I could help it. I would be more than satisfied with simply seeing the champion and exploring the festival today," Serena responded as honestly as she could to convince him of her sincerity. _You have no idea how far I would go just to help you, Ash._

A look of relief washed over Ash's face. "Awesome! Thanks a ton, Serena. I'm going to let the others know," he spoke as he speed up to deliver the decision to the others, eliciting a groan of dissatisfaction from Bonnie at the brevity of their planned stay.

The oddity that was Ash's recent behavior regarding travel was not lost on Serena as the group returned to the fork in the path and took the road that was less travelled by. Annoyingly embarrassing as it may be, Serena considered talking to Bonnie about the shift in Ash's decision making as she pulled up a layout of Cinder Town on her map. The town consisted of the aforementioned river running straight through the center of town, dividing it between a commercial and a residential district. A main road ran perpendicular to the river with a rather large bridge for the small gap the river created where the two met that ran all the way through town. A pokémon center was located right next to a police station just inside the residential district, and the multiple roads weaving their way through the commercial district seemed ideal for setting up festival booths. The only commercial building of note in the residential district was a decently sized hotel on the edge of town. It came to Serena's attention that the odds of Bonnie leaking anything she sad to her regarding Ash were incredibly high. She began to run through the list of people who at least had some inkling of her feelings towards the aspiring pokémon master. _Maybe I could ask Shauna... If I knew where she was, that is._ "Serena! Hey! Behind you!" a voice rang out from behind Serena.

Recovering from thinking she was insane for hearing what sounded eerily like the voice of someone she was literally just wondering about, Serena turned to see none other than Shauna, the performer who had introduced her to the world of pokémon performing earlier in her journey, approaching excitedly from the route her group had just traversed. She welcomed her friend with a wave and a smile. "Shauna! It's great to see you again! How have you been?" Serena asked.

Shauna stopped to reclaim her breath, a bit winded after running to catch up to the group. "I'm fantastic! I was heading to the Suicune Festival to meet up with Trevor and Tierno and I thought I caught a glimpse of you, so- YOU!" the girl broke off in a shout as she noticed the new addition to the normal roster of Serena's companions.

The commotion caused Calem and the others to turn around, Bonnie, Ash and Clemont lighting up at the familiar face. Calem, however, let out a flash of a grimace that melted away into a welcoming grin almost as soon as Serena noticed it, making her question if it actually happened at all. "Ah, if it isn't Sunshine incarnate herself! How long has it been again? A month or two?" Calem's level tone revealed none of the uneasiness Serena would have been feeling if Shauna had been approaching her with the same enragement she was storming over to Calem with.

When she reached the older boy, Shauna drew her hand back and slapped him across the face with a satisfyingly sharp smack. "Four years, six months, twelve days. That's how long it's been, Calem. Not that you'd care, right?" Shauna used more malice than Serena had ever heard from the girl as Calem simply rubbed his face, the slap unable to alter his countenance.

"Listen, Sunshine, I'm sorry, really, I am. However, I promised you I would see you again and here I am, right? I saw your Master Class performance, and it was spectacular, by the way. You definitely should have won," Calem apologized calmly.

Shauna was ready to lay into Calem again, but she paused when he mentioned her performance. Serena was personally a bit offended that Calem didn't recognize her as the runner up in the competition, not that fame was a big target for her or anything. "You... you actually watched my performance? And you liked it?" The rage had completely disappeared from Shauna's voice, replaced by what Serena identified as shyness. _She's speaking the same way I do when Ash compliments me..._

Calem winked at Shauna. "Of course I did! I always knew you were going to be a wonderful performer, even when we were younger. That Kalos Queen title will be yours in no time."

Shauna blushed heavily and murmured something unintelligible to the others to Calem that caused him to snicker a bit. "Serena is a great performer as well. You two make good rivals," he reassured Shauna.

Serena allowed the desire to make a snide remark towards Calem ebb away when she realized what Shauna had practically whispered to Calem. More important was the fact that Calem and Shauna knew each other somehow, something that everyone in her group had taken notice of, even Ash. "So, you two know each other? How did that happen?" Ash inquired, shifting his gaze between the two, as if he was having trouble connecting the taller boy to the girl in the pink shirt with black bowties and jean shorts.

Shauna, who had gotten rather close to Calem, suddenly shoved him, causing him to stumble backwards a foot or two, barely holding his balance, while she crossed her arms and turned away from the victim of her abuse. "He's just a childhood friend of Tierno, Trevor and I. He started his journey years before we did and then he abandoned us. That's that," Shauna spoke matter-of-factly.

Calem straightened himself out and sighed. "You know that's not quite the truth, Sunshine. However, if you won't tell them, then I won't either. Shall we be going?" he offered.

Serena looked between her friends, each one returning her look of confusion until Shauna opened her green eyes and grabbed Serena's hand. "Yeah, let's go Serena. I don't want to keep OUR friends waiting." She began to drag Serena away, Serena throwing a look of worry towards Ash, only for him to shrug helplessly and for Calem to give her a thumbs up. Brilliant situational advice from the guys in mind, Serena matched her stride with Shauna until the two were a decent distance away from the boys and Bonnie, road signs indicating the imminence of the town reassuring them of the accuracy of their intended course. Shauna eventually got around to releasing Serena's hand and sighed heavily. Serena decided to prod carefully, for the sake of avoiding future awkwardness between the two while they were at the festival together. "So, Shauna. Did you want to talk about him?" she asked gently.

Shauna didn't say anything for a moment, and Serena began to wonder if she had heard the question before the girl twisted her head to look right at Serena, a tear starting to form in her green eyes. "I... It's just been so long... I thought I'd never see him again, and... to just have him show up again... I didn't know what to so, so I hit him with all the pain he made me feel when he abandoned us. I hope he's not mad. I probably sound crazy, don't I?" Shauna asked with a small sniffle.

Serena shook her head empathetically. "Oh, no, not at all! I felt really similar when I saw Ash again for the first time. I just... didn't hit him when I met up with him again," Serena admitted.

Shauna didn't seem to notice that Serena had revealed that she had met Ash before they had started travelling together, instead latching on to the positive response she received. "Thank you so much for understanding me, Serena. I can't wait to tell Tierno and Trevor about this. I guarantee you they'll be just as angry at him as I was-am! As angry as I am at him!" Shauna spoke, standing a little straighter in an attempt to emphasize the severity of her implications.

Privately Serena couldn't help but doubt Shauna's statement, instead guessing that the girl was just experiencing the feelings of having a crush that she herself was incredibly used to experiencing, but she allowed those thoughts to remain just that, simply nodding in agreement with her friend as they finally reached the edge of what had to be Cinder Town, the quaint nature that many of the towns in Kalos had contrasting uniquely with the heavy tumult of people moving about as they prepared decorations like paper models of what appeared to be suicune and advertised products from stalls while others wandered about, taking in the atmosphere or conversing with acquaintances. The whole scene was confusing, and Serena's hope that she would be able to navigate the town effectively disappeared in the large masses of people wandering the festival grounds of the town, as integrated in the festivities as the ground itself. In essence, it was overwhelming. Shauna and Serena stood there at the town entrance for a moment, taking in the bustle of activity and the excitement on the faces of everyone involved as Ash and the others caught up to them, similarly impressed by the scope of the festival. "It's a larger celebration than I anticipated... the locals here really go all out, don't they?" Clemont commented.

"This is awesome! I want to explore all of it!" Bonnie cried out, Dedenne saying its name in agreement.

Calem stepped forward. "Well, I've been to town before, so I'd be more than happy to show you all around. Diantha is going to be making her appearance at the small arena they've erected on the other side of town, so we'll need to pass through the thick of things anyways. Is that acceptable?" He asked.

Ash took initiative for the group. "Yeah, that would be great, thanks Calem!" he spoke.

Shauna puffed up her cheeks in annoyance but said nothing. Serena smiled sympathetically at her and joined the others, walking in between Ash and Bonnie, occasionally working with Clemont to keep either of them from sprinting off to investigate some fascinating stall or attraction before Calem had finished showing them around. As they passed through the town square, a circular clearing in the center of town split by the river that ran through the town and conjoined by the lavishly decorated bridge that ran across it, Shauna was the first to spot Tierno and Trevor standing with their backs to the group at a food stall. "Hey, Trevor, Tierno! Look who decided to show his face again!" Shauna called to her two close friends.

Trevor and Tierno spun around, Tierno's mouth filled with some unnamable pastry while Trevor had a firm grasp on some delectable cotton candy. At the sight of Serena, Tierno's eyes shone, and Serena inwardly steeled herself for the inevitable as the aspiring dancer sprang forward and landed on one knee in front of the performer. "Shrnnah! Hw dd y..." Tierno paused and managed to swallow the clump of what used to be recognizable as food clogging his words. "Serena! How did you get even more beautiful than the last time I saw you?!" Tierno asked dramatically, drawing more than a few stares from passerby.

"Ummm... It's... It's nice to see you too, Tierno," Serena stuttered awkwardly, her face flushing at the unwanted attention.

"Tierno, what kind of question is that? You're making a scene. Hello there, everyone," greeted Trevor pleasantly.

Serena noticed Ash almost nodding to himself with Trevor's first statement, but Shauna was the most in disbelief over the initial appearance of the two. "Are you two serious? Do you not see the person standing right in front of you?!" she asked.

"Yeah..." muttered Tierno dreamily, causing Serena to edge a little closer to Ash and Bonnie.

Trevor had the good sense to look around, and he did a double-take when he noticed Calem standing there, a dumb smile on his face. "C-Calem? Is that really you?" Trevor asked trembling almost giddily.

"The one and only, I'm afraid. And am I mistaken, or is this the world famous Snap, pokémon photographer extraordinaire?" He spoke warmly, the way an old teacher would address a successful student.

Trevor smirked, holding out a hand and shaking with Calem firmly. "Guilty. It's been too long, friend. I have a ton of photographs to show you, but I'd love to hear what you've been up to first," answered Trevor.

As Calem was about to respond, Tierno, who had finally noticed the elephant in the plaza and had finally gotten over the fact that Calem was standing in front of him, ran up to the older boy and enveloped him in a strangling bear hug. "Yo, X-factor! I haven't seen you since... I haven't seen you in forever! You still owe me a battle!" Tierno gushed, overcome with joy at the return of his friend.

Calem struggled heartily and eventually wriggled himself into a position where he could breathe. "Heh. same old T-man, I see. All passion, no filter. I'll make sure you get that battle, don't worry." Calem reassured him.

Shauna could have caught flies with her mouth. "You two have to be kidding me. Do neither one of you remember how he abandoned us after he won the stupid Kalos League?" She fumed.

Things suddenly clicked for Serena. She had a vague memory of watching the Kalos League finals on television with her mother when she was younger, although at the time she had no reason to care for the battles and was just grateful to not have to practice ryhorn racing with her mother for a day. She remembered silently thanking Calem for having such a long final battle with his opponent. Trevor turned to his female friend lazily. "Of course we do. We'd just rather celebrate him being here than hold a grudge with him for decisions he made years ago. You and I both know we were too young to follow him where he went when he won," Trevor explained.

"Hold on a second. You've won the Kalos League before?!" Ash asked incredulously.

Calem shrugged. "It was a different time. I was a different person. It's all behind me now. In the present, the stadium is located at the end of the path directly in front of the bridge over there. If we're to explore the festival, now is the time. Diantha is set to come on in about an hour or so," Calem explained.

Ash didn't appear satisfied with that answer, but when Calem let the reins off, any inhibition at participating in the sensory overload of festivities around him vanished into the delicious-smelling wind and he quickly bolted off in the direction of the stalls, calling over his shoulder that he would meet up with the others later. Serena sighed. _Another chance to get alone with Ash, another instance where he runs off. I can't give up until it's over, though._ Shauna, noticing the desire in Serena's eyes, leaned over teasingly, momentarily forgetting her anger. "You know, Serena, if you stuck a little closer to your boyfriend, then he might let you tag along with you more often," she jeered in a sing song voice.

Serena turned bright red, but a quick glance around her gave the girl all the ammunition she needed to fire back. "The same could be said for you and Calem, Sunshine," Serena retorted, putting just the smallest hint of sarcasm in the last word.

Shauna browsed the area and came to the same conclusion as Serena, that Calem had already slipped away while everyone was looking at Ash. "Oh, no he doesn't. He's not getting away from me this time!" Shauna declared as she ran off in a random direction, giving Serena the chance to allow the blush to disappear from her face.

Bonnie grinned her mischievous grin reserved for romance. "They make a perfect couple, don't you guys think? Clemont, this means I have to find you somebody! There has to be a girl here willing to take care of you!" Bonnie proclaimed before sprinting off into the crowd to look for someone to marry her brother.

"Wait, Bonnie, no! I've told you a million times to cut that out!" Clemont cried as he raced off after his sister, his large pack and aversion to exercise encouraging movement sluggish enough to prevent him from ever catching his quarry.

"Well, I believe that just leaves the three of us. Would you like to explore the grounds with Tierno and I, Serena?" Trevor asked politely.

Serena glanced at Tierno. She was a bit uncomfortable being around him without Ash, but Trevor was nice enough. "Yeah, that would be great!" She responded with mustered-up enthusiasm.

Tierno smiled broadly and took the lead, pointing out stalls he had noticed and found interesting while Trevor conversed with Serena about what their groups had been up to since their last meeting, which was admittedly not that much, as they had just convened together at the Master Class performance. They stopped at another food stall run by a suspicious looking blue-haired man, pink-haired woman, and incredibly short man that had the best food at the entire festival, at least according to Tierno. As Tierno for the fifth time began to revel over the intricacies behind the differences in carnival food and festival food, Trevor finally noticed a booth that sold photograph frames and excused himself to likely buy out half of their wares. Without Trevor, Tierno realized he had Serena all to himself, as did Serena. "Hey, guess it's just you and me, Serena! Want to go check out the food on the south side? I've been getting rumors that it might even be better than the stuff those guys with the weird hair were serving!" Tierno started to dance in place as he talked, the boundless energy reminding Serena of Bonnie, and, she had to admit, just a little bit of Ash.

"Actually, Tierno, it's been fun catching up, but I'm completely stuffed. I think I'm going to walk around on my own for a while, if you don't mind," Serena tried to solicit as firmly as she could.

Tierno looked like he wanted to argue, and even opened his mouth to do so, but thought better of it when Serena glowered at him. "Oh. Alright then. I promise I'll see you at the champion's exhibition battle, then!" Unlike the others, Tierno merely walked off, throwing a look back at Serena with a bit of hope in his eyes every few steps.

Feeling a bit guilty, Serena turned away. She didn't want to hurt Tierno's feelings, as he was still a friend of hers, but her heart had been intertwined in the destiny of Ash ever since that fateful day at professor Oak's summer camp when they met for the first time and he instilled the principles that Serena still carried inside of her today. As she browsed the stalls of the festival lining the stone path, Serena began to lose her thoughts to Ash, dreaming about everything from their fantasy future together to what kind of poképuff she could make that the boy would enjoy, as he enjoyed eating the food meant for pokémon for some reason. As enjoyable as it could be to think about Ash, it seldom gave her any sort of solution to what to do to test the waters with him. Today, however, that felt alright, and Serena decided that, for this moment, it was alright to allow her mind's desires to run free. After all, it was good sometimes to remind herself just how important the boy was to her, and to reverberate the mantras of never giving up that he had taught her to herself. Unknowingly, Serena passed the edge of town and reentered the forest, uttering the phrase "Don't give up until it's over," religiously to herself. She was only loosened from this rigid mental state when she bumped into a tree and looked up to realize that she had somehow wound up getting herself hopelessly lost. "What were you thinking about?" A deep voice to Serena's right inquired, causing the performer to jump.

"Oh, I was just thinking about somebody. What are you doing out here?" Serena questioned slightly nervously, staring into the trees to spot the stranger talking to her.

A very large man stepped out from between the trees, and Serena had to crane her neck upwards just to see his face through the tattered clothing, red beanie, green scarf, and long, matted yet clean white hair. His very presence intimidated Serena, and she found herself taking an involuntary step back. "I believe my appearance speaks for itself, to answer your question. Your little phrase there. What was it? Don't give up until it's over? Does that come from the person you're thinking about?" The large man made no movements other than his initial reveal from the trees, and Serena couldn't even see his facial features clearly due to his height.

"Yeah... why?" Serena responded tentatively, her mother's warnings about getting into conversations with strangers alone ringing warning bells left and right in her head.

The man heaved a large sigh. "It's an interesting philosophy, I suppose. I know a thing or ten thousand about having someone on my mind. If you intend to participate in the festivities young one, then you'll want to follow the sun west from here. Personally, however, I recommend you just gather your friends and leave town while you still can," he spoke with a heavy tone, choosing every word delicately and deliberately, as if he were picking individual flowers from a field.

Serena wasn't about to take random threats from people. "And why should my friends and I leave? And how do you know I have friends?" she fired back, dropping her inhibition for indignation.

Another large sigh was emanated, speaking clearly not a comfortable activity for the man. "I have no power to inhibit your actions, nor would I if I did, and I don't find any sort of comfort in providing you this warning. You would be wise to ignore a stranger's prophecy for the future, after all," the man grumbled with the quiet authority that only age could provide.

Serena opened her mouth to let gratitude for the directions, confusion at the whole encounter, scorn for his rude borderline threat, anything spill from her mouth after that string of sentences that had just penetrated her conscious, but the man turned away and had disappeared into the woods as quickly and subtly as he appeared, an amazing feat for one of his size. Serena actually pinched herself to make sure she hadn't just dreamed that person up. Staring into the woods for a solid minute didn't answer the questions that had been foisted onto her by the man, and eventually Serena copied his sigh and turned in his recommended direction. _I'm not going to let that guy get to me. He's just a strange man in the woods, and he said it himself that I shouldn't listen to him. That doesn't explain how he knew I was around others, though... I'll ask Ash._ The thought of Ash knowing someone she didn't tripped the earlier shock of how the boy had seen such a rare and majestic legendary pokémon while also not telling his travelling companions. As romantic as the mystery of Ash's past travels were, Serena couldn't prevent the twinge of self-righteous anger that the boy wasn't sharing such important events with her. _Doesn't he care enough to tell me about the more important points on his journey, or is it that he doesn't trust me? That couldn't be it. He definitely trusts me, right? I've known him for so long, there's no way he doesn't trust me._ Serena mentally checked herself. Basing her self-esteem on how others viewed her was never conducive to her success, particularly if she wanted to ever present herself as worthy enough for Ash. She still found herself with the unshakeable feeling that there were some things Ash never told her that she needed to know about as she reentered the town, silently thanking the man she met for at least providing accurate directions. As she prepared to set out for the stadium before the match started, another disembodied voice called out to her, "Hey, you. Blonde lady."

Glancing around didn't reveal anything to Serena, a subject of the summons or the speaker itself. "Yes, you with the blue ribbon. Come over here for a moment," the voice urged.

Serena finally managed to identify a red tent at the very end of the line of stalls, the front flap covering the majority of the interior of the apparently tiny space lifting up by itself when she focused her gaze on it. There was nobody else around. "What is it with people talking to me out of nowhere today..." Serena muttered to herself, curiosity winning out over common sense as she approached the tent. Whatever was inside, it couldn't be weirder than the encounter she had just dealt with.

As Serena stooped low to enter the tent, she was pleasantly surprised to find it was larger on the inside than it appeared, with enough room for a two chairs and a small table draped in a lavender cloth. Behind the table, a man dressed in a purple suit, red bowtie, and white cape brushed his brown hair into impeccable submission, ignoring a small strand that ran down between his eyes. "Yes, you're the one, that much I can ascertain. Tell me, my lady, what is your name?" He held out a white gloved hand in greeting.

Serena was just a bit put off by the man's fashion choice, but seeing as how she was inside the tent already, she decided she might as well introduce herself. "Um, my name is Serena. What are you talking about?" she asked, shaking his hand.

The man threw his head back and chortled heartily. "Hello there, fair Serena! I am Eusine, and the trade I deal in is, to put it modestly, the future itself! If you have any question regarding the unclear path in front of you, I can guarantee that it is possible to blow the foggy unforeseen away with my incredible technique! So, what I'm talking about, Serena, is that you were someone I foresaw to having a troubled future! Would you kindly allow me to read your fortune for you?" Eusine spoke in a swift and flowing tone, letting each syllable follow the other like the lyrics to a song without music.

How this Eusine fellow managed to see that Serena had just been warned about a bleak future didn't matter to Serena. What mattered was that he use this precognition ability for her benefit as soon as possible. "Oh... If you're certain about this, then I suppose it couldn't hurt," she convinced herself, taking a seat across the table from the fortune-teller.

Eusine reached into his pocket and procured a deck of cards, shuffling them with indiscriminate care before laying them all out on the table in front of Serena. "Excellent. Draw a card, then, and after I interpret yours, I will as well," he instructed.

Serena took a deep breath and closed her eyes before randomly selecting a card. It wasn't as if she was fully convinced of the legitimacy of Eusine's abilities, but it was better to be safe than sorry. She stared at the card she had ended up with, the queen of hearts. Eusine smirked. "The queen of hearts, right? Quite the lucky card to have, in the right hands, that is," Eusine spoke knowingly.

A gasp left Serena's mouth. "H-How did you-" she stuttered.

"Do the impossible?" Eusine interrupted. "As I said, I read the future. or. to be more specific, I foresaw all the possibilities that stemmed from your choice and I ascertained the exact course your fair hand would lead you in. Now, with that card, I can see that you have an extremely important decision holding you back from something in your personal life. A...conflict between business and passion, possibly?"

Serena was starting to get that creeping feeling that arose in her whenever she and the others investigated a haunted house. _This guy is way too good at his job. There's no way he could know about my offer..._ "Well, I guess I did have this one dilemma..." Serena admitted.

Eusine leaned in to listen as Serena tried to find the best way to admit the conflict between her performing career and her love life to a total stranger. Before she could, a rustling was heard behind her, and she whipped around to see none other than Ash himself appear in the tent. "Serena, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Come on, the exhibition battle is about to start!" Ash opened the flap of the tent to invite Serena out.

Serena flicked her gaze between both guys and decided that going to see the battle with Ash took precedence over trying to foresee a future that would come to her eventually anyways, in truth any excuse to escape the strangeness that was the last hour of the festival at this point being an incredibly convincing one. Eusine himself was staring intensely at Ash, as if, for all of his vision, he wasn't totally sure if the person he was looking at was real or not. "Thank you, Mr. Eusine, but I really must be going now," Serena spoke formally, standing and bowing quickly before returning the playing card and exiting the tent with Ash.

"As you wish," Eusine's goodbye rang out into the vacant air of his tent, barely registering in Serena's ears.

Shaking her two encounters off, Serena suddenly became aware that she had spontaneously achieved her goal of being at the festival alone with Ash, albeit only until they got to the stadium. "So, what was that guy's deal?" Ash inquired.

Serena shrugged. There was no way she was going to tell him what she had almost told Eusine. "Oh, he was just a fortune-teller. He was reading my fortune, but I don't think he knew what he was doing. I'm honestly glad you showed up when you did, so thank you for that." Serena smiled gratefully at her crush.

Ash beamed. "Of course! Anything for you, Serena! Come on then, everyone else is waiting on us!" Ash exclaimed as he suddenly took off in the direction of their destination, taking care not to run too fast as to leave the slightly slower Serena behind.

As she ran after Ash in more ways than one, Serena tried to stop herself from admiring her crushes athleticism. It never hurt to be infatuated with a guy who was...fit, although it certainly played no factor in why she pined for the boy in the first place. The imposing stadium came into view as the two's pace drew them hastily to their destination, Ash laughing and cheering on his companion while she reveled in his presence and did her best to match his pace. It was simple, and that made it heavenly to Serena.

The event was free as a result of the champion's sizeable donation that even allowed the stadium to be built, according to a sign on the outside of the stadium entrance. The structure itself wasn't inherently massive, consisting of two entrances on either long side and only rising up a few stories into the air, clearly with the implication that the whole structure could be deconstructed to free the field outside the town upon the festival's conclusion. Entering the stadium, Serena and Ash found a large number of people already seated in the rows of stands that occupied every part of the stadium aside from the entrances and the walls above where the champion and her challenger would be entering. An awning provided glorious shade to either side of the stands as more viewers continued to trickle in along with Ash and Serena. On the opposite side of the stands, an announcer's booth perched on the roof, a predatory bird maintaining a watchful eye over the battlefield occupying the center of the stadium, waiting for its chance to expose with speaker systems wired throughout the stands any movement that happened to cross the central grounds. Eventually the pair managed to locate their companions and the two seats Tierno and Clemont had saved for their friends between them. Serena took her place between Ash and Tierno and noticed that Shauna had her arms crossed with a pouty face while Trevor unsuccessfully tried to console her. Acknowledging her friends and bypassing another awkward hello to Tierno, Serena leaned over to Shauna and asked, "Hey, Shauna, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Shauna said nothing, so Trevor answered for her. "She's upset that she couldn't find Calem after he disappeared earlier. I'm sure he's just running a bit late, Shauna," Trevor attempted to reassure Shauna, who only huffed in response.

"Well, wherever the X-factor is, he's gonna miss out on an awesome battle. Nobody throws down quite like Diantha does!" Tierno exclaimed proudly, as if he had trained Diantha himself.

Clemont nodded in agreement, just as the loudspeaker suddenly roared to life. "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first day of the annual Suicune Festival! I hope you're ready to witness some spectacular battling, because we have none other than the champion of the Kalos region, movie star and beauty of our times, Diantha in the stadium and ready to exhibit her skills for you today! So, is everyone ready to get this exhibition battle underway?" The male voice over the speaker clearly knew how to rile up a crowd, and the nearly full stands were chanting Diantha's name rhythmically almost as soon as he mentioned her name.

"Alright, then, let's bring her out! Everyone put your hands together for the Kalos region champion, Diantha!" called the voice from everywhere and nowhere.

Diantha's entrance released the pin in the grenade of enthusiasm stockpiling in the audience, and the stadium roared its approval as Diantha emerged from an underpass on Serena's right side of the stadium that was void of stands, waving to the crowd as they all cheered for her, Serena and her friends included. Tierno leaned over to Serena and spoke loudly to her over the commotion, "Diantha really draws a crowd, huh?"

Serena nodded, unable to withhold her admiration for the champion. "Yeah, she's incredible!" Serena agreed.

Ash managed to hear the two and leaned over to Serena to comment as well. "Serena is going to attract just as many people with her performances when she becomes Kalos Queen, right, Serena?" he asked.

Serena wasn't sure how to respond to such high flattery from the usually dense boy, but she managed to nod, noticing the anger she was getting from Tierno at the attention she was giving Ash, but shrugging it off to revel in the random compliment the boy had bestowed upon her. While doing so, Serena realized that Shauna was the only person Serena could see not enjoying the energy of the stadium, refusing to even applaud the champion's entrance. She was about to try to convince her that Calem would certainly be showing up shortly to fill the empty seat next to the girl when the loudspeaker decided to continue its momentum. "You may be asking yourself: hey, who could possibly take on such an incredible champion? Well, we think we've found a worthy opponent. Please give a hearty Cinder Town welcome to former Kalos League winner, Calem!"


	2. Chapter 2: Misplaced Items

The uproarious jubilation of the crowd faded into uneasy murmuring as none other than Calem himself stepped forward to assume his position on the opposite side of the battlefield. Serena stared at the crowd, baffled, as did Ash, Clemont and Bonnie, and she strained to hear what the people around her were saying.

"Is that really Calem?"

"He's a Kalosean legend!"

"I thought he was dead!"

The raucous claims started to descend into utterly ridiculous assertions regarding what Calem had apparently been up to for the past several years. Shauna couldn't have held her mouth open wider if she tried. Calem, despite the lack of real fanfare he was receiving in comparison to his opponent, waved to the crowds surrounding him. Upon noticing Shauna and the others in the stands, he winked flirtatiously and, after fiddling with a small microphone headset that both he and Diantha had received to allow their commands during the battle to be heard by the audience, pointed directly to her and called out, "This one's for you, Sunshine!"

Shauna was beet red as hundreds of pairs of eyes suddenly turned on her, Trevor and Tierno immediately jumping in between the crimson performer to shoo away the nearest stares, their reaction time indicating they anticipated the event. Serena was embarrassed for Shauna, but privately she suspected that the attention Calem had just thrown her was worth all the stares in the world to her. The only person not gawking at Shauna was Clemont. "I had my suspicions when we first met, but this will really prove or disprove my hypothesis. Calem definitely didn't tell us everything," Clemont spoke ominously.

Ash, Serena and Bonnie whipped around to face Clemont. "What do you mean by that, Clemont?" Bonnie asked with an edge of nervousness to her speech.

Squishy poked its head out Bonnie's bag to stare intently at Calem, and the younger girl stroked the green amorphous blob absentmindedly while Clemont responded, "Oh, I presume I spoke improperly. What I meant was that Calem appeared to hold back heavily when he was battling Ash. No offense to you of course, Ash." Clemont punctuated his last statement with a sheepish gesture towards Ash, causing the boy to grin.

"It's fine, Clemont. People like Calem just make me want to work harder to achieve my dream!" Ash declared, pumping a fist in the air briefly.

"Good mentality, man! You'll need it if you're ever going to feel good being so far behind me!" Tierno spouted out, having returned to his seat along with Trevor as the fickle crowd lost interest in Calem's callout quickly and chattered aimlessly amongst themselves as Diantha and Calem stared each other down.

That comment ignited the spark of competition in Ash that balanced out with his compassion. "What was that, Tierno?!" Ash growled.

"Oh, nothing. Focus on the match, Ash, you're crowding Serena." Tierno retorted.

He wasn't lying. In a burst of passion, Ash was leaning directly in front of Serena to get in Tierno's face, never one to resist a direct challenge. Upon realizing his infringement on Serena's personal space, the boy actually blushed a bit and returned to his seat, Serena giving him an understanding smile, ignoring the expectant stare Tierno was giving her as Ash mumbled an apology that was washed away by the wave of the announcer's voice. "Alright, everyone, I was just as amazed as you were to see this former league winner myself, but I promise you he'll be all the more exhilarating when he starts battling, so let's get right down to it! This will be a one on one battle between the champion Diantha and Calem, a wandering trainer! Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, because this battle is about to go down in the history books!" the announcer spoke enthusiastically, drumming up anticipatory cheers from the audience.

Diantha and Calem drew a poké ball from their repertoire, the judge that had walked onto the battlefield during the announcer's small speech raising his two flags in preparation for their release. Serena noticed the ever-calm and collected countenance that Calem had carried ever since she met him, but Diantha was more tense and grievous than the performer had ever seen her. Both trainers tossed their balls into the air, and the result was two gardevoirs making an entrance onto the field, Calem smirking at what was clearly a prediction on his part. Diantha didn't share his amusement. "I do hope you don't hold back this time, Calem. I certainly won't be," Diantha announced as she gripped her mega stone tightly, enveloping both the stone, the gardevoirite around her gardevoir's neck, and the gardevoir itself in a brilliant white light.

Serena shielded her eyes from the intense glare that signified the impending mega evolution. When the glow faded, Diantha's gardevoir had mega evolved into mega gardevoir, its dress expanding outward among other small aesthetic changes to accompany the massive boost in power that resulted from the physical bond between Diantha and her pokémon. Trevor immediately began snapping pictures while Bonnie cheered at the appearance of a mega evolved pokémon. Serena found herself puzzling over what Diantha had meant, why she was so adamant about a simple exhibition battle compared to the other exhibition battle she had witnessed, during which Diantha hadn't broken a sweat, and, most importantly, if Calem would be able to match the feat of mega evolution placed as his opposition. Calem grinned broadly. "Well, Sanity and I couldn't not accept a challenge like that, could we? It would be... uncouth. Now, where did I put that gardevoirite..." Calem began to dig into his bag, carelessly tossing various other mega stones out of his bag and onto the graciously soft dirt, causing nearly everyone watching to cringe at the callous treatment of such precious and rare stones, at least those who were able to get over the fact that anyone could even have that many mega stones on hand.

Eventually, the judge stepped in. "Calem, I cannot delay the beginning of the battle any longer. Decide what item you are going to give your pokémon now or you will be forced to battle without doing so," he impartially stated.

Calem looked up at the red-shirted official addressing him and heaved a sigh. He gathered up the five or so stones he had scattered around him and faced Diantha diffidently. "I'm not quite sure how to say this, but I do believe my gardevoirite is in my other bag. I can promise Sanity will give you a good match as she is, though. No holds barred, as it were," Calem explained.

Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing. _He has to be insane for taking on Diantha's mega gardevoir without mega evolution himself..._ "He's going to win," Shauna declared, all vestiges of blush vanquished from the girl's face as her stare bored into the competitors on the field.

Serena looked at Shauna with a bit of concern. She completely understood how her friend was feeling, but her faith in context seemed just a bit absurd. Tierno, curiously enough, nodded along with Shauna's ultimatum. "Forgetful or no, not mega evolving his pokémon will force Calem to take this battle seriously. It's obvious Diantha isn't going to hold anything back either," Tierno claimed.

Trevor remained mum in favor of continuing to capture the moment with still photography. Serena took the cue to return her focus to the match. Diantha nodded to the judge to indicate that the battle should commence. Said judge raised both flags and threw them down. "Let the exhibition battle between the champion Diantha and pokémon trainer Calem begin!" he called out, the announcer miming his official statement in time with him to make it clear that the battle had started.

Nobody moved. The stadium was a portrait painted by a master artist. Diantha and mega Gardevoir were uncomfortable with the lack of happening in what should have been them dodging Calem's attacks, but Calem simply stood there, his gardevoir actually yawning while it waited for its foe to take the initiative.

It took an excruciating amount of time, but Diantha eventually relented her strategy of avoidance. "Shadow ball, go!" Diantha ordered.

Mega Gardevoir wasted no movement, summoning a dark blob of dark energy and hurling it at Calem's Gardevoir. Calem removed his sunglasses from his hat and placed them gingerly over his eyes. "Sanity, block it with shadow ball," Calem slowly and deliberately instructed.

Sanity had prepared and fired a shadow ball of its own at the oncoming attack long before Calem finished speaking, the two identical moves colliding and exploding in a deep purple explosion. "They're even..." muttered Serena.

"And what does that say about Sanity, able to match the strength of mega evolution without the stone?" Tierno asked rhetorically.

Serena noticed Clemont nodding to himself as Tierno spoke, and she found herself coming around to Tierno's postulation as well, but the once still match was too enthralling to pause to check everyone's reaction. "Another one, Gardevoir! Don't let up until you hit it!" Diantha commanded.

Mega Gardevoir focused itself before hurtling several shadow balls, all equal in appearance to each other as well as the one fired before them, in several different arcs towards Sanity. Calem pointed at each shadow ball in a random order. "Alright, would you please hit each shadow ball in the exact order I point at them, Sanity?" he requested.

Sanity again began to fire and eliminate each shadow ball with its own dark energy attacks, only after wiping out each of the seven total shadow balls making it apparent that Sanity had followed Calem's request perfectly despite not seeing which shadow balls Calem pointed at, Calem pointing to where the fifth ball was by the time Sanity had destroyed the seventh. Diantha was clearly irked. "If you won't attack, we'll being you to us! Psychic, Gardevoir!"

"This is where we see the real fireworks. Psychic, Sanity!" Calem directed.

Both mega Gardevoir and Sanity closed their eyes, and nothing happened. The fizzing, cracking and popping of shadow balls mingled with the unique energy each trainer put behind their respective commands and the crowd's cheering died out suddenly, an eerie silence projecting a far darker implication than the color of any shadow ball attack. For the second time, the battle devolved into a staring contest. Serena at this point was totally lost as to what was taking place in front of her, so she instinctively turned to Ash for guidance. "Ash, um, what's happening?" she asked tentatively.

Ash tore his eyes away from the intense standing contest to face his friend, Serena pushing aside the fact that they were sitting so close to each other to listen to his response. "They both used psychic, so I'd guess that they're having a mental pokémon battle right now instead of a physical battle, and the winner will get to use psychic and weaken the other Gardevoir," Ash explained.

"But that's boring! Why can't they just fight the whole time like a normal battle?! What's the point of a pokémon battle you can't watch?!" Bonnie pouted, folding her arms and puffing up her cheeks.

"On the contrary, Bonnie, this is one of the fiercest battles I've seen in a long time, whether it looks like the pokémon are fighting or not. The mental fortitude of not only the pokémon but the trainers themselves has been strained and tested right from the beginning. One side certainly should have overpowered the other by now," Clemont commented, attempting to cajole some interest out of his sister.

Bonnie merely huffed, while Trevor lowered his camera briefly to throw his two cents in. "In addition to that, Calem has been calling out his commands late on purpose, since his gardevoir already knows what he wants it to do before he has to say it. He's been trying to throw Diantha off by doing that and not attacking just to start this mental grapple," Trevor spoke sagely, clearly experienced in the battle style of his friend.

Tierno nodded. "You got it, as usual, Trevor. What do you think, Shauna? Same old Calem you know?" Tierno inquired, curving his voice into a question abruptly, seemingly cutting himself off from saying something.

Shauna didn't notice Tierno's awkward tone, or his question at all for that matter. Instead, she had her hands clasped together tightly, her gaze trained on Calem, unwavering in spite of the conversation around her. Tierno paused expectantly for a few seconds and shrugged. "Well, it's nice to know you haven't changed your watching style, I guess," Tierno sighed, returning his gaze to the match.

Serena wanted to ask Tierno what he meant by that, but the sudden rise in excitement from the crowd stole her attention away from the performer seated near her. Mumbling thanks to Ash for his advice, Serena returned her attention to the battle, the source of the crowd's reaction being Calem's gardevoir, which had dropped to one knee, Diantha's Gardevoir standing as straight as ever.

Time lost meaning as the four beings locked in combat hung frozen in their own private existence where the only purpose to be found was directly correlated to overpowering the team standing across from themselves. Serena could feel her pulse racing despite staring at unblinking statues as the seconds dragged themselves along at the pace of minutes. Finally, Diantha's gardevoir opened its eyes, now laminated by a bright blue glow, and began to hover slightly in the air. "Gardevoir!" cried Calem's gardevoir, unleashing a blood-curdling expression of anguish as its foe continued to hover in the air.

Right as Serena was sure that Calem's gardevoir was going to collapse from exhaustion, it too opened its eyes. Unlike its opponent, Calem's gardevoir had its normal eyes, albeit with a spark of determination glowing in them instead of raw psychic power. With visible effort, the non-mega evolved gardevoir rose to its feet, and as it did so, Diantha's gardevoir was suddenly yanked into the air and hurled into the ground at lightning speed, a cloud of dust mushrooming out of the impact site. "Voir... voir!" was the proud cry emitted by Calem's gardevoir, standing up straight again, albeit somewhat woozily.

The built up excitement of the audience over Diantha's impending victory was crushed in between the ground and Diantha's gardevoir. Calem took no heed of the crowd's mood swings. "Well done, Sanity. Use calm mind while it recovers," the boy instructed.

It was a difficult conundrum for Serena to decide if she was more shocked that Calem's Gardevoir had overcome Diantha's pokémon in that fight, or that Calem assumed the battle would continue after such a devastating blow. Then again, he was battling the champion and her strongest pokémon. While the crowd was overwhelmingly still in favor of Diantha, a few people did start to cheer for Calem as his pokémon closed its eyes and appeared to go into a more focused state, relaxing the strained muscles throughout its body. "That's wise. By raising his own special attack and special defense, Calem is ensuring that his gardevoir will have even more of an upper hand than it apparently already has in another psychic battle," praised Clemont, adjusting his glasses in tandem with Trevor adjusting his camera to get a better shot of Sanity's move.

Her unasked query resolved, Serena simply refocused on the parting cloud of particles surrounding her right side of the battle field. As the dust scattered, mega gardevoir's form reappeared, standing with a heavy lean towards the side that hadn't taken the impact of the ground. "Moonblast. Withhold nothing," Diantha coldly ordered, witnessing the failure of her pokémon in the mental battle erasing any sort of inhibitions she might have held over Calem not taking the match seriously.

Mega Gardevoir's form shone before a small ball of white light, drawing energy from the luminescence of the moon, coalesced in its hands before being fired like a bullet from a gun at its fellow gardevoir.

Calem frowned. "Dodge that one, Sanity," he advised unemotionally.

Sanity disappeared right as the incoming attack flew through the airspace it was occupying a blink before. Mega Gardevoir didn't sit idle, rushing forward into the field that felt empty with only one occupant. A shadow ball manifested itself in Mega Gardevoir's hand, and it flung the ball like a death Frisbee towards the vast emptiness to its right. While Serena thought the psychic attack had ruined mega Gardevoir's sanity, Sanity reappeared right in front of the path of the shadow ball, taking the unexpected assault to the melody of an explosion. Calem's pokémon was flung backwards, landing hard on the dirt where it lay, still conscious, but unmoving. "Mega Gardevoir has your energy traced perfectly, Calem. There's nowhere to hide," Diantha boasted, bolstered by a resounding cheer from the crowd.

Trevor shook his head. "The battle's over. Calem has pushed Diantha completely out of her normal battling style," the photographer predicted.

Tierno exclaimed something along the lines of "I told you so," to nobody in particular, while Serena, despite the complete inaccuracy of her own predictions, couldn't see how Calem was going to get around Diantha's admittedly unorthodox battle style, for her at least. If anything, Diantha was battling like Ash. Calem adopted a stone cold expression and removed his glasses in order to wipe a bit of the dust from them while he waited for Sanity to recover, allowing Serena to see his eyes. It was difficult to make out, but she swore she could see the same glimmering in them she saw during his battle with Ash, although the distance might have just made her see things. _If I'm right though... then what is he hiding about his battling? Why would he try to hold back his emotions like this?_ The pressing questions wouldn't be answered immediately, as Calem returned his shades to his face and acknowledged his partner as it returned to its feet. "No reason to panic, Sanity. Let's use calm mind again," Calem calmly spoke, like he was using the move himself instead of his pokémon.

Sanity again focused itself, raising its stats further while Diantha sighed. "You aren't going to be able to raise your defense quickly enough. Another moonblast, Gardevoir!" Diantha more confidently called out.

Mega Gardevoir repeated its flashy move set up before firing another small round directly at Sanity. Calem didn't open his mouth, but Sanity teleported away regardless, receiving another perfectly predicted super effective shadow ball for its troubles. While the explosion was no less powerful, this offensive failed to knock Calem's gardevoir to the ground, forcing it backwards several feet instead. Calem nodded to himself. Serena realized that Calem was still relying on non-verbal, even thought cues between himself and Sanity to instruct his pokémon, a bold move considering the heavy damage both sides must have taken by this point in the battle. "Another calm mind, Sanity. No, actually make it two. Can't be _two_ careful, right?" he joked, grinning expectantly and getting an audible groan from an audience member in response.

The far more serious implications of Calem's instruction became readily apparent as the pokémon closed its eyes to focus and Diantha ordered another moonblast. Instead of opening its eyes and teleporting, Gardevoir remained in its meditative state as Mega Gardevoir's most powerful attack pounded into the pokémon, actually sending it flying across the field and into the stadium wall behind Calem. Serena actually winced at the sickening cracks left in the wall Calem's gardevoir had met the hard way, each individual fissure webbing out from the impact site as a testament to the true power of the champion. The judge stared intently as the tension hung in the air quietly, apparently long enough for said judge to announce his decision. "Calem's Gardevoir is unable to-" the judge started to proclaim before Calem cut him off.

"Whoa whoa whoa, man. Haven't you ever heard of a grand entrance? Let Sanity do its thing, and then you can decide this match," Calem spoke in defense of its pokémon, indignation at the incompetence only he could see edging into his tone.

The judge shot a look at Calem and raised a flag to declare Diantha the winner anyways, but when he returned his gaze to the field, Sanity had reappeared at Calem's side, pirouetting in place with a serene smile decorating its face, the cuts and bruises marking its body painting a completely contradictory image to the graceful nature of Sanity's movement. The judge said nothing, but he lowered his flag impartially. Serena and the rest of the crowd were aghast at Sanity's survival, but perhaps not as shocked as Diantha herself. "There's no way, Calem. Your gardevoir shouldn't be able to take that many shadow balls and then a moonblast from my gardevoir, special defense raised or not. How?" she asked, momentarily forgetting the battle and giving Calem the window he was searching for.

"Bring the queen down for me, would you Sanity?" Calem proposed harmlessly.

"Gardevoir. Gard," stated Sanity, summoning a purple light around itself, before sending said bright purple energy directly into the sky, the ineffective angle of the attack becoming irrelevant as the lavender tidal wave of energy rapidly completed its course and impacted Mega Gardevoir from above, engulfing Diantha's pokémon in the largest explosion the battle had played witness to yet.

Serena turned away to defend her eyes from the bright light of the detonation, unintentionally facing the same direction as her crush, bringing the two's faces incredibly close together. Ash had a positively stupid grin on his face as he faced the performer. "This is really cool, huh?!" he exclaimed over the raucous noise of the confused crowd and the attack itself.

Serena didn't know what to say to that, the absurdity of their position getting the better of her. "Yeah," was all she managed to squeak out before she decided that the effects of such a powerful attack must have worn off and quickly removed her crimson face from the boy sitting next to her.

Serena did her best to ignore the stare Tierno was giving her while Bonnie rubbed her eyes, clearly choosing to gawk at the pretty light instead of protecting herself, Clemont doing his best to reassure his sister that the spots dancing around her vision would not be permeant. Trevor was whispering something to Shauna, who was nodding empathetically. _Did I really just get that close to Ash? And when he said something to me I said yeah. Great. Way to take advantage of a moment, Serena. Focus on the battle._ Serena looked at Mega Gardevoir just in time to see it fall to its knees, the damage from the attack used against it combined with all of Calem's gardevoir's special attack increases overcoming the mental fortitude that had allowed it remain standing through the attack itself. Sanity teleported directly in front of its foe, summoning a small shadow ball that it tossed playfully between its hands like a basketball. "I won't finish it if you don't want me to, Diantha. I'm not interested in anyone getting seriously injured," he offered nonchalantly, punctuating his statement with a shrug.

Diantha grimaced. "We will never give up until the battle is over. You have not won yet, Calem," the champion claimed.

Calem nodded to himself, allowing a rueful smile to appear upon his countenance. "Right then, I should have known. Stop playing around and finish it, Sanity," he ordered.

"Quick, get out of there!" Diantha shouted urgently.

Mega Gardevoir took a deep breath before vanishing. Sanity, however, hadn't made any motion to fire upon the prone opponent. Instead, it stopped tossing the shadow ball and expanded it in its left hand before turning and, in one swift motion, shooting its basketball in a high arc that hammered itself into mega Gardevoir as it appeared behind Sanity, ruining its landing process and as a result cratering the pokémon into the ground. A mournful light arose from the small hole that indicated the reversion of the champion's pokémon to its original form. The judge didn't bother hesitating. "Diantha's gardevoir is unable to battle. The winner is the challenger, Calem and his gardevoir, Sanity!" he declared, ending the intense battle.

Serena sat agape. Calem had pulled off what should have been impossible, the odds she saw putting Calem at every possible disadvantage. Shauna shot out of her seat. "All right! Great job, Calem!" the performer shouted out, leading the stuttered clapping and celebration from the clearly shell-shocked audience.

Serena and Ash exchanged a look before rising along with Shauna to add their noise to the slowly growing clamor and celebration, their action garnering the support of the friends around them. On the field, Calem sauntered over to his pokémon and gave it an empathetic high five, Sanity moving Calem's glasses back onto his hat with its psychic powers. Diantha removed her microphone, kneeled over her fallen battler and whispered something to it before returning her pokémon. She then met Calem at the center of the battlefield and shook hands, much to the audience's approval. They exchanged words, but Serena couldn't make them out over the commotion, and as the crowd continued its rancorous shouts, the loudspeaker again roared to life. "How about that, ladies and gentlemen!? I bet nobody was expecting Calem to turn that one around! On behalf of all of Cinder Town and Suicune itself, I thank all of you for attending our humble festival and I hope to see all of you right here tomorrow night for the fireworks show. I can promise it will be just as explosive as the battle you just witnessed, but until then, I bid you all adieu!" A final crackle over the microphone signified the conclusion of the event, and the populace began to file haphazardly out of the stadium.

Serena watched as several men in dark suits exited from Diantha's entrance side of the battlefield and met the two competitors at the stadium's center, proceeding to escort them both away from the commotion. Ash took this cue to signal to everyone to make their own exit. Serena stuck close to Ash and eventually they all managed to brave the crowds and found themselves standing just outside the newly constructed stadium. As they looked for a less crowded place to speak about the battle, Shauna lost her own battle to hold in the snide remark that Serena noticed building up inside her ever since Mega Gardevoir fell. "I told you all, didn't I? I said that Calem was going to win!" Shauna proudly exclaimed.

Tierno cocked his head at his performing friend. "Actually, Shauna, I was the one who said Calem would win from the beginning. I'm not sure if you actually said anything that entire time," Tierno accused, only half-jokingly.

Trevor stepped between the two before an argument could erupt. "What's important is that we all believed that Calem would win. What did you four think of Calem now that you've seen what he can really do?" Trevor inquired at Ash's group, clearly trying to change the subject.

Bonnie, as per usual, piped up first. "That was incredible! I thought Calem would lose for sure, then the battle was boring, then it was amazing! I've never seen a cooler battle ever!" Bonnie gushed, clearly in love with the psychic battle she had witnessed.

Clemont, a finger on his head in contemplation, suddenly raised his head to face his companions. "Yes, as I mentioned earlier, it was a spectacular battle. That attack that Calem's gardevoir, Sanity, was it? Yes, the attack Sanity used to bring Mega Gardevoir to its knees. That was stored power, wasn't it?" Clemont hypothesized.

Trevor nodded. "Yes, it was. That's one of Calem's preferred strategies. I'm surprised Diantha didn't find a way to counter it as soon as Sanity started using calm mind," Trevor mulled.

Tierno shook his head. "You know exactly why, man. Not even Diantha can step up to Calem's dance moves that mess with your mind. It all started when he refused to mega evolve Sanity. You noticed this of course, right Ash?" Tierno asked, the innocence in his tone tinged with a bit of animosity that Serena only barely managed to catch.

"Yeah. It's not easy to explain, but there's something about the way he battles... his aura of control is unnerving to face. It's like he's suppressing his emotion or something," Ash spoke, allowing his train of thought to flow freely after being put on the spot.

"You saw it too?!" Serena blurted out.

Everyone stared at the source of the outburst. Ash was startled, but he responded first. "Saw what, Serena?" he asked the blushing girl.

"Oh... um... nothing. Don't worry about it," Serena backpedalled. She didn't need everyone thinking she was crazy because she might have seen Calem suppressing his emotions during a battle, her only evidence a miniscule glint in his eye.

Nobody pushed the issue, but Trevor eyed Serena skeptically while Shauna maintained eye contact with Serena longer than everyone else before something else seemed to catch her attention. "Alright then. What should we do now? I recommend we find something to eat. I'm starving!" Tierno spoke, breaking the silence Serena had delivered to the group.

"You've been eating since we got here, Tierno. How can you still be hungry?!" Trevor asked incredulously.

The accused shrugged. "You can never be full when there's so much good food around. It's getting late anyways, so it's not like we have something better to do," Tierno reasoned.

"I don't want to eat something until we can find Calem. I'd feel bad if we ate and he didn't," Shauna added.

Trevor shook his head at his friend. "Honestly, Shauna, can you think of something other than Calem for a moment? You saw him leave with the champion. He's probably off having some incredible dinner at a fancy restaurant with her by now. You're just fine without him," he stated firmly.

Of all people, Ash decided to help break up the rising tension that Trevor's statement carried before Shauna could respond, although it was clear he was still oblivious to the real meaning of Trevor's words. "Honestly, dinner would be a great idea right now. Clemont, what do you know about food in this area?" Ash interrupted, giving the inventor his turn to be on the spot.

"Yeah, Clemont! Dedenne and I are hungry! Find some food now!" Bonnie ordered her brother.

Clemont panicked. "H-hold on now! Serena has the town map, not me! Ask her about the food around here!" he rapidly uttered, passing the responsibility to his older female travelling companion.

Thankfully, Serena was used to covering food duty when they passed through a town and had her town map whipped out before Clemont could even start to speak. "Now, let's see here... what abou- Shauna?" Serena questioned, interrupting herself as Shauna pushed through her and Bonnie to march away from the group towards the still-trickling out crowds.

Before Serena could ask her friend exactly what had come over her, it became apparent what Shauna was targeting. A man in a dark uniform, identical to the ones that had taken Calem and Diantha out of the battlefield was slowly and methodically navigating through the crowds. Serena sighed. _There's a difference between having a crush and stalking someone._ She didn't pause to consider where she herself fell on that line. "We should probably stop her before she gets in trouble," Serena commented.

Tierno frowned, but he nodded to Serena and took the lead, the group ambling off after Shauna, thankful that the suit she was pursuing was moving at a leisurely pace. This grace period ended when the man glanced around and noticed a group of seven people and a pikachu heading directly for him. A look of discomfort spread across his face immediately, and he took off, pushing through the people flowing around him. "Wait! Stop! I just have a question!" Shauna yelled after him, oblivious to her own friends following her.

Shauna broke into a run after the man, and Clemont groaned about exercise as Serena's group was forced to sprint to keep up with the two. She must have bumped into at least twenty people, but there was no way she was going to leave Shauna alone to chase down some random security person who could probably get Shauna in serious trouble if he wanted to. She found her stride surpassing Ash's and matching Bonnie's as her boots thudded methodically upon the pavement, merciless in their pursuit of the green eyed girl chasing the promise of ascertaining the whereabouts of her crush. _Shauna and I need to have a talk about this Calem guy._ They all finally abandoned the main path paved from the stadium that led into the thick of the festival and the town itself to a back alley of the commercial district. Ash suddenly stumbled behind Serena as they ran, placing a hand on the ground and causing Serena to glance back with worry at the sound of his misfortune. Ash looked up and flashed a grin at Serena before applying another layer of speed to his run, taking the lead with little effort, reminding her just how speedy her own crush could be. This admiration was suddenly ground to a halt as Ash turned a corner leading back onto a main street and skidded to a sudden halt right in front of her. Serena was forced to grab Bonnie's hand to prevent her from plowing directly into Tierno thanks to Ash's stumble sprint.

She caught her breath as she peered around the corner to see what had caused Ash to end his marathon running. The man in a suit was now joined by three similarly dressed men, all standing in front of a door to a restaurant. The alley Serena found herself in itself served as the boundary between two fancy restaurants, at least according to her tablet that she realized that she forgot to put away. In fact, the road itself seemed to be the most heavily laden with eateries, and she realized that their little shortcut had put them in front of the droves of people that were still making their way slowly back into town from the stadium. Shauna was saying something to the four men, but it was unintelligible in between her tired gasps for air and the decent distance she still had on the group. The previously running man glanced lazily over at Ash and the others as they peeked at the scene in front of them. "Hey, kids. Can you tell your friend to scram? She doesn't understand what no means," he called out with clear irritation in his voice.

The man showed no signs of having just sprinted for several minutes, despite Shauna herself gasping for air in front of him. His expression revealed nothing but annoyance at the girl in front of him. Ash stepped forward gingerly. "Shauna, I don't think we're allowed to go in there. We can easily find somewhere else to eat, if that's what you're worried about," Ash offered, trying to cajole Shauna away from trouble.

Serena and the others approached the men and Shauna as the latter responded, "It's not about food! Calem's in there and I need to chew him out for not telling us he was battling the champion!" She stamped her foot on the ground as she spoke, and Serena was more than a little surprised at the complete turn of emotion she was seeing out of her friend.

One of the guards, a larger man with dark brown hair, slapped a palm to his face. "Listen, kid, first of all, the reason we're here has nothing to do with you, and secondly, even if the Calem you're looking for was here, the restaurant is currently in use by a private party. Put simply, no brats allowed. So scram, so we don't have to do our jobs," he threatened, nothing in his tone implying a bluff.

Serena wasn't about to let Shauna get herself hurt over something as stupid as wanting to see a guy again. Pushing down her mind highlighting how hypocritical she was being, she stepped forward and put a hand on Shauna's shoulder comfortingly. "Come on, Shauna. We can meet up with Calem after he's done with his business here." She leaned in close so that only Shauna would hear her. "I understand how you feel, really. I promise you we'll see Calem again after we get some food," Serena whispered.

Shauna paused to gaze longingly at the lavish door of the restaurant before looking at the understanding in Serena's eyes. She released a breath and nodded. "Alright, I trust you, Serena. Sorry for running off, everyone. Let's go get some food, alright?" Shauna suggested, a bit of her normal peppy personality returning as Serena's promise circulated in her mind.

Tierno and Trevor welcomed Shauna back to the group while the first man that Shauna had been chasing smirked. "Good luck with that, kiddies. Every food place in town should be fully booked by now. Why don't you go beg some other restaurant to let you in?" he taunted.

Ash, who had turned away, whipped back around to face the guard. "Hey, what's with the rudeness? What did we do to you?" he asked.

The larger guard sneered. "You wasted my partner's time chasing him around, and, to be frank, you're lucky we haven't called the police on you for doing so. So maybe mind your own business, hmm?" he fired back.

"Ash, let's just go. They aren't worth it," Serena urged softly.

Ash clenched his fists, but he eventually looked at Serena and nodded. The running guard grinned broadly. "Yeah, listen to your loser friend. Maybe she can teach you how to deal with being second place for the rest of your life," he jeered mercilessly.

Serena was mortified. _Why does this guy of all people have to be the one who recognizes me as the runner up to the Kalos Queen title?_ Ash and Tierno immediately stepped forward, a poké ball in Tierno's hand, Pikachu jumping from Ash's shoulder to do battle for him, cheeks bristling with electricity. "Insult me if you want, but don't you dare make fun of Serena," Ash spoke with ominous calmness.

Tierno gripped his poké ball tightly. "Serena worked incredibly hard to get as far as she did. You have no right to mock her," he added.

The guard carefully withdrew a poké ball of his own. "Touched a nerve, did I? Oh well, it's been a while since I had a good scrap anyways. Hope you kiddies are ready for-" the guard was interrupted by the sudden swinging open of the restaurant door, smacking him square in the face and startling the other three guards.

Diantha stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips. "What's with all the commotion out here? I swear I can't go one day without- oh, it's you all. Are you the ones interrupting my dinner?" Diantha asked as she noticed Ash's group poised for a battle right in front of her.

Bonnie was the first to recover from the champion's sudden appearance. "Ms. Diantha, those guys in the suits were being really mean! First they didn't let Shauna in, and then they made fun of Serena!" Bonnie tattled.

For once, Serena was grateful for Bonnie's big mouth. Diantha surveyed the scene carefully and noticed her own guard on the ground. "I see... well, I'm sorry my men gave you so much trouble. As an apology, why don't you join Calem and I for supper? We have plenty of food in here," Diantha offered.

A third guard, a woman with long blond hair, spoke up at Diantha's invitation. "Ms. Diantha, I cannot approve of the safety risks regarding your decision. We don't know these people," she stated.

Diantha shook her head. "You don't know these people. I do. They're wonderful trainers, all of them, and I would greatly enjoy having them at my table this evening," Diantha coolly retorted.

Clemont, of all people, leaped on the opportunity. "Thank you so much, Diantha! We would love to accept your offer," Clemont exclaimed, bowing in gratitude.

Ash exchanged a glance with Tierno before having Pikachu return to his shoulder, again denying the mouse a battle. Clemont took the lead, and everyone else, not about to turn down such a generous offer, filed into the restaurant behind Clemont. Diantha excused herself from the doorway to avoid drawing attention to the scene. The guard hit with the door groaned, a red mark decorating his face as he struggled to his feet with help from the larger guard. He shot Serena a dirty look as she stepped through the doorway. Attempting to ignore the rudeness of the man, Serena took in the dining area the champion had reserved for herself. It was a typical Kalosean eatery, with multiple tables and booths scattered around the hardwood floors and gaudy chandeliers illuminating the establishment. Dominating the room was a feast that spanned several tables put together with delicacies Serena had only ever read about in magazines in greater numbers than the champion could ever possibly consume. A few chefs stood by the kitchen door, chatting idly while a waiter stood at the ready at each corner of the table. Calem sat at the head of the table, munching on some sort of vegetable, glancing up when he realized that there was more than one person returning after Diantha excused herself. "Well, look who got past the fuzz! What did you all think of the battle? Oh, tell me later, I'm sure you're all famished. Have a seat! I saved you a spot, Sunshine," Calem welcomed everyone, patting the chair to his right invitingly.

Shauna blushed and sat at Calem's recommended spot, while Ash claimed the chair to Calem's left. Serena moved to sit next to him, but Bonnie, in a rush to get at the food, happened to randomly grab the other chair next to Ash. Serena resigned herself to sitting between Shauna and Trevor, while Clemont and Tierno took seats of their own, and Diantha sat at the other end of the table. The waiters poured water for everyone, which reminded Serena just how thirsty she actually was after all the running she had done. Silence became the theme for the group as everyone dug in to the food. As splendid as Clemont's cooking was, it paled in comparison to the classy selections that only hours of preparation in a professional kitchen could allow for. After several blissful minutes of consuming, Diantha decided to speak up. "I take it you enjoy the food? The best chefs in the region prepared it as thanks for my participation in the festival. I insisted that they didn't have to go to such lengths, but they wouldn't take no for an answer, so I'm glad that you all are able to prevent it from going to waste," Diantha said.

"The food is amazing!" spoke Tierno, Ash and Bonnie at the same time, causing Serena, Trevor, Clemont and Shauna to giggle at the outburst of happiness.

Calem suddenly looked up from his platter to the champion. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, Diantha is the only person who actually gets to see Suicune on the third day of the festival, so the town really goes all out on pampering her like this before-hand. If she didn't serve as the town's ambassador at the shrine located at the mouth of the river when Suicune appeared, then who knows what would happen?" Calem spoke, throwing his arms up to accompany his last statement.

Diantha sighed. "If you would challenge and claim the role of champion for yourself, then you would know, Calem," Diantha pointed out, a bit of edge in her voice.

Calem grinned ruefully. "Walked into that one, I suppose. You know exactly why I don't want your job, ma'am. You're doing it wonderfully, anyways. I would just mess things up," he explained.

Shauna shook her head empathetically. "You would be a great champion, Calem! Why wouldn't you want to be the champion?!" she pressed.

Diantha retrieved some bread from the cornucopia of edibles and stared at it as she spoke, "He won't take the mantle of champion because he finds the many duties I have attached to the role... restricting. Am I wrong?" She looked directly at Calem with her question.

"You're correct, as usual, champ. There's too many things in life that need to be done, and a job that can't get those things done isn't for me," Calem admitted uncaringly, tossing a grape into his mouth while leaning back in his seat.

An uncomfortable silence descended over the group, punctuated only by the muffled chewing of various foods. Bonnie suddenly looked up at Calem, seeming to remember something. "Oh yeah, Calem! I wanted to tell you how awesome you were in that battle earlier! Diantha too! Your gardevoirs fought really hard!" the young girl gushed.

Calem grinned in embarrassment. "Well, thank you, Bonnie. I was just trying to give everyone a good show," he stated.

Diantha actually rolled her eyes. "You know that's not true. You were trying to win that battle, because if you didn't care, you would have mega evolved Sanity," she accused.

Calem raised his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, you got me. But I had to respect your Gardevoir's power. Even with all of those defensive boosts, we still needed that sitrus berry to maintain enough health to overpower your mega evolution," he admitted.

Clemont's eyes lit up, as if a question he had been mulling over snow had a satisfying resolution. "So that's why you didn't mega evolve your gardevoir. You wanted to give your pokémon a sitrus berry to help it better survive Diantha's onslaught instead. That requires... a lot of faith in your abilities, Calem. I'm thoroughly impressed," the inventor praised.

Tierno grinned. "That's the X-factor for you. He always has a plan to win every battle, and sometimes you never know what it is, even after he steps off the field," Tierno exclaimed.

Calem chuckled. "I don't need any flattery, really, even though it is appreciated. I just try to do what I think is the best for me in every battle I'm in," he declared.

Trevor looked up at Ash and decided to change the subject. "So, Ash, will you and the others be staying for the entire festival? That's the plan for Shauna, Tierno and I," Trevor stated.

Ash sat straight up, and Serena realized that he was having a problem deciding whether or not it would be rude to leave now that their friends were there. She decided to take the initiative and explain things for him. "Well, Ash really wants to get to his next gym battle in Snowbelle City, so we decided to visit the festival just to see Diantha have her battle. We'll be leaving in the morning," Serena carefully answered for her crush.

Ash threw a grateful look towards Serena, while Tierno looked at Ash in confusion. "Dude, you don't have your eighth badge yet? Trevor and I got our eighth badge over a week ago. Might want to pick the pace up a bit, eh?" he teased, smirking at his rival.

Serena could see the already hot blood beginning to boil in Ash's body, but it was Bonnie who reacted first. "That's not fair, though! Ash went out of his way to make sure Serena was able to make the Master Class performance on time! You can move faster because you're travelling alone!" Bonnie accused.

Tierno shrugged. "I suppose so. I'm just a bit surprised that Ash hasn't won his eighth badge yet. I mean, with all of his-"

"That's enough, T-man. Eat your food," Calem ordered, interrupting his friend mid-sentence.

Tierno looked like he wanted to argue, but didn't, returning to his dinner silently. Diantha looked between the two before settling her gaze on Ash. "Well, I appreciate you going even further out of your way to see my battle. Since you're only staying the night, you can use this," Diantha spoke, handing Clemont a hotel card key.

Clemont inspected the card and raised his eyebrow. "A free room? May I ask why?" he questioned.

The champion indicated the chefs in the corner. "The same reason they provided this meal. I prefer to sleep in my trailer, but they gave my a four bedroom room anyways, and you all could use it to a far better degree than I could," she explained.

Clemont considered this before nodding gratefully. "Well, thank you very much for your generosity, then. We'll be sure to take advantage of the room," he said.

That business completed, everyone who hadn't done so already quickly finished their meals. Once their plates were cleared away, Calem rose. "Well, I have a room of my own to retreat to, and I assume the three of you have rooms already, so shall we be going?" he offered.

Ash and Shauna nodded, while Diantha rose as well. "If you're ready to go to the hotel, just follow this road until you get to the residential district and then turn right. It's the largest building on the edge of town, you won't miss it. As for myself, I'm going to stick around here a while longer and wait until I can return to my trailer without the public eye on me. It has been a pleasure seeing you all again," Diantha spoke, smiling genuinely at everyone.

Ash returned a toothy grin that was uniquely his. "Thank you, Diantha! Today was awesome!" he exclaimed.

Everyone said their goodbyes to the champion and she rapped on the front door. The larger body guard opened it and allowed everyone but the champion herself to exit the restaurant. "Make sure you all clear out of here. It's hard enough keeping fans away from the champion without you people around," the larger man warned.

Calem grinned at him. "Whatever you say, Smiles," he spoke, waving and urging everyone else away from the establishment.

The trek to the hotel was uneventful, or at least the setting sun had caused Serena's mind to lose interest in the conversation around her in favor of thinking about sleep. Night had claimed the land as they paused in front of the revolving doors of the brightly lit hotel, the words "Cinder Town Hotel" emblazoned in red neon over the entrance to their four story home for the night. Trevor faced everyone and held out a hand to Ash. "If we don't see each other tomorrow, then I wish you best of luck in your final gym battle and I hope to see you in the Kalos League," the aspiring photographer stated.

Ash smiled and accepted the gesture. "Thanks, Trevor. I'll see you in the Kalos League!" Ash promised.

Tierno leaned over to Serena in what she assumed was supposed to be a seductive manner. " Make sure you watch out for me in the Kalos League, alright Serena?" he asked.

"Um... yeah, sure!" Serena replied, her voice breaking off into a high pitched squeak of uncomfortableness as she spoke.

Ash shot Tierno a look but said nothing. Serena exchanged a brief hug with Shauna and promised to meet her again at the Kalos League. Calem, watching the proceedings with mild amusement, spoke up. "Well, it was nice meeting you all, and seeing some of you again. I'll check in to my room later, so you all go ahead," Calem stated.

Shauna spun on her heel with a dancer's serenity and snatched Calem's arm. "You. You and I are going to have a chat. I haven't forgotten everything you've tried to pull on me today," Shauna spoke darkly.

Calem looked for aid, but nobody stepped forward to release him from the bear trap of Shauna's grip. He slapped a jolly smile on his face and proceeded to get dragged around the side of the building by Shauna, Trevor and Tierno waving the two off. "They really are like a married couple, aren't they?" Bonnie commented out of nowhere, giving Serena an expectant stare.

"Alright, it's getting late, Bonnie, and we all need some sleep, so let's get to it!" Serena stated in a rushed tone.

That said, Serena's group entered the hotel and headed to the reception desk while Trevor and Tierno broke off to their respective rooms. As much as she didn't want Bonnie trying to bring up her romantic life in front of Ash, she couldn't help but admire Shauna in a different light for her forwardness with her crush. _At least she doesn't freeze up at every important moment._ These thoughts raced around in Serena's mind as Clemont explained his possession of the card key to the reception desk lady inside the hotel and received their room number on the second floor. The room she eventually found herself in wasn't anything particularly special, four beds lining the west wall of the room, a small balcony bordered by a glass sliding door, and a small television mounted on the wall on the east side of the room being the only notable features. Clemont claimed the bed nearest to the balcony, while Ash took up residence on the one next to him, followed by Serena herself and then Bonnie. The four took their turns getting changed in the unremarkable tile bathroom before saying goodnight and drifting off to sleep in preparation for the morning's travels. Serena spent some time on her tablet before she slept, gazing longingly at the fireworks event being planned and wishing for the guts to be selfish for once and ask Ash to wait another day for her. _He's already gone out of his way for me once this journey, and Tierno made fun of him for it. I can't waste another day for him. I'll get another chance._ That promise to herself in mind, Serena forced herself to validate her own words over and over again as fatigue teamed up with the comfort of the hotel's pillow to claim her consciousness.

 _Serena's eyes snapped open as she slammed the refrigerator door shut. The bandages on her face were itching after only recently being applied to cover up the bumps and bruises from a long day of ryhorn racing practice. Her mother sat in the living room, watching the news. She was saying something, but Serena was too frustrated to discern any meaningful phrases from her speech. She gripped the water bottle she had retrieved from the fridge tightly in her hand as she waltzed over to see what her mother was going on about. On the screen, a reporter was commenting about how a garchomp had gotten loose in Lumiose City and had somehow ended up on top of prism tower. It was interesting, but not the kind of thing Serena particularly cared about. If a garchomp wanted to mess around on a tower, then that was its problem. The live helicopter camera zoomed in, and Serena was able to get a good look at the poor soul who apparently tasked himself with stopping the garchomp... no. That couldn't be. Serena leaned in closer to the screen, rubbing her eyes. It was him, the same boy from the forest all those years ago. So much time spent hoping, praying, begging anyone who would listen for the chance to see him again, and now she knew exactly where he was. The boy chose that moment to leap from the tower in pursuit of a pikachu. Serena gasped, as did her mother. The camera tracked him hurtling to the ground, getting closer and closer to certain death, until... Serena looked away. The television had gone silent. The entire world seemed to skip a beat, the consequence being a complete and total silence around the planet. She felt herself swooning, the ground swept away as the inspiration for her goals and aspirations was pummeled into the pavement. As she neared the ground in mimicry of her crush, the supple yet firm hands of her mother enveloped her, ending her fall. Serena opened her eyes to look at her parent, but instead of her mother, she was being held dearly in Ash's arms. The performer felt the wind whipping at her hair, and she realized that it was in fact her that Ash Ketchum had sacrificed his personal safety to leap off of Prism Tower for. She opened her mouth to speak, but Ash shook his head, glistening liquid running from his eyes. "You could have done something about this," he uttered, and the crush Serena had been pining after for years upon years let her go. As Serena entered freefall alone, a comet of blazing fire streaked across the sky above her and rescued Ash from the fate Serena had been assigned to by gravity. Her last thought was of whether the pain of impact with the ground would hurt worse than it felt to have Ash abandon her._

Serena shot out of bed, grasping wildly for the reality she had lost her grip on, losing her balance and tumbling to the ground in a heap of performer and blankets. She paused for a moment to confirm that she had just been dreaming before peering over the cusp of her bed to ensure that her night terror hadn't disturbed Bonnie. Confirming this, Serena dragged herself to her feet, bringing her comforter with her. A groan from the other side of the room caused Serena to whip around, but all she saw was Clemont rolling over in his sleep, muttering something about diodes and synthesizers. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding captive. _Relax. Nobody heard you. You were just dreaming. It was all a dream. You're fine. Ash is..._ Serena squinted in the darkness, but it was clear that the bed previously being use by Ash now sat unoccupied.

Panic again immediately started to seize Serena, but she forced herself to remain calm and collected. She padded silently over to the balcony door, her bedsheet dragging behind her receding form like a regal cape. She forced open the door with a bit of effort, the sliding glass shifting behind the paneling adjacent to it as she stepped outside. A blast of chilly night air greeted Serena, and she was grateful for the cape that had followed her. Gazing out into the darkness, she found exactly who she was looking for. Slightly obscured by one of the large decorative trees placed inconveniently in front of their balcony, Serena could see a single beacon of yellow light shining down on the lone battlefield the hotel had to its name. Ash was a small figure giving orders to an even smaller mouse from Serena's perspective, but he captured her vision just as effectively as he would have been able to if he were the tree by the point she stood on. A flash of electricity emanated from the small mouse and reached for another form, likely Noivern, Ash's dragon and flying type. The sound wave pokémon would be useful for this battle with its ability to see in the dark. Serena shook herself. _He's just training. That's it. You didn't do anything wrong. Go back to sleep._ The girl dragged her gaze away from the object of her affections and took off her cloak, tossing it on her bed as she returned to the promise of sleep, closing the glass door behind her with a nearly inaudible clink.

Having slightly adjusted to the lower lighting that always followed the appearance of the moon, Serena realized that her bag had spilled open when she had fallen. She sighed to herself, removed her adornment that doubled as a blanket, and kneeled down to return everything to its assigned place, neatly folding clothes, storing poké balls and zipping pockets. When she reached into her vest pocket to ensure the safety of Palermo's offer, however, her blood ran cold. Empty air tickled at her hands, tantalizing her with the openness that only followed the utter disappointment of finding something that was expected to be present to be absent from its home. This time, Serena was unable to stem the frantic fear that invaded her system. The card couldn't be gone. It wasn't possible. She threw out any conventions of being immaculate along with most of her belongings as she scoured the travel bag for her third most valuable possession. Nothing yielded success, not the clothes she wore yesterday nor the entire area of her sleeping location. Serena was seriously considering opening one of her poké balls on the off chance one of her pokémon had managed to get a hold of the offer, when a paralyzing thought struck her. _Ash might have the card. What if it fell out of my pocket and he picked it up? No, that's not possible. There's no way. Unless..._ Serena suddenly remembered Ash's stumble from their chase earlier in the day. She thought he had tripped while she was running in front of him, but what if he had just paused to retrieve something from the ground?

Serena forgot about everything else. She practically threw herself out of the room, disregarding the sanctity of her friend's slumber by slamming the door shut behind her as she flew towards the stairs. The creaking of wood reverberated around the tacky striped plaster wallpaper adorning the stairwell. Each step was another one of Serena's nerves breaking under the stress of Ash having her card in his hands. She had no choice but to hope that he hadn't looked at it. She burst into the lobby of the hotel and turned for the back exit, ignoring the look she received from the lady at the lobby. The automatic doors leading to the posterior of the establishment glided open for the performer, and allowed her to collide directly with Ash as she took her first step outside. Having all the momentum turned Serena's desperate attempt to reach Ash into a football tackle, sending the two crashing onto the carpet placed on the outside of the doors. Pikachu, more aware than his trainer from his vantage point on his trainer's shoulder, jumped as the two collided and landed neatly on the ground next to them. Ash somewhat caught the girl as she attacked him, and the two ended up side by side on the ground, Serena dazed, Ash alert and concerned. "Serena, are you alright?! What's wrong?!" he asked urgently.

As the shock of suddenly being on the ground was adjusted to, Serena realized that she had made contact with her crush sooner than she expected. "Oh... yeah, I'm alright, I was just... searching for something, and I thought that you might have it, so I came downstairs since I noticed you were practicing, and... um, are you alright?" she inquired awkwardly to end her stuttering speech.

Ash brushed himself off absent-mindedly and rose quickly, offering a hand to Serena that she gratefully accepted. He released Serena's hand, much to her chagrin, and allowed his familiar toothy grin to spread across his face. "I'm doing great Serena. You said you had lost something, right? I picked up a card that I thought you dropped while we were running earlier. It wouldn't have happened to be that card, would it?" he innocently presumed.

Serena's heart was caught in her throat. "Uh-huh," she managed to get out with a nod.

Ash's smile faltered a bit at his friend's reaction. "Are you sure you're alright, Serena? You were definitely in a hurry to talk to me. Do you want to lie down?" he offered.

Serena didn't have the current brainpower required to notice that Ash was being unusually attentive to her well-being. Instead, she had one current objective regarding Ash Ketchum that had to be accomplished. "I promise you I'm fine, Ash. Can... can I just have the card? Please? And can you not tell the others what it says?" she practically begged.

Ash tilted his head, but eventually shrugged and dug into his pockets, withdrawing a card. "Well, if you're certain, Serena. Not sure what there is to say about an ace of spades, but I won't tell Clemont and Bonnie about it if you don't want me to," he responded uncertainly, holding the playing card out to her.

Serena was dumbstruck, but her mind, set on retrieving a card, took the playing card anyways. She flipped it over and confirmed that she had indeed just received an ace of spades. _Great. Now my business card is still gone and he probably thinks I'm weird. I can't even tell him what I thought he had. How did I even get this card?_ As Serena continued to stand there, staring at the card like it was some sort of fantastic new creation Clemont had created, Ash cleared his throat, causing her to snap back into reality. _Card later. Ash now._ "Thank you Ash. I... um... just needed to get this card back, so I appreciate you picking it up," Serena said carefully, trying to hide her deception effectively.

Ash, thankfully, didn't question her questionable behavior. "Hey, as long as it makes you happy, Serena, it's fine with me. Let's go get some sleep now, though. I can't practice anymore since Pikachu accidentally shorted out the lamppost out there," he explained, laughing a bit at the memory as they returned to the lobby.

The receptionist didn't share Ash's mirth. "Excuse me, sir, did you just say that you shorted out our lamppost on the battlefield? If so, I hope you are able to compensate us appropriately for it. Lamppost wiring isn't cheap, you know," she explained in an irritated voice.

Pikachu, having just made its way back to Ash's shoulder, hung its head in shame. Ash gave his pokémon partner a grin. "Hey, don't worry about it, buddy. How much is the lamppost, ma'am?" Ash asked.

The lady punched a few numbers and came up with a price tag that gave Ash a chance to go pale. Serena was trying to ponder the best way for all of then to work off such a large sum of money when she suddenly felt a firm hand on her shoulder. She started and turned, only to immediately relax when she recognized Calm standing behind her, still in his day clothes. "I will fully reimburse the hotel for any damages caused by these two or their friends during their stay here. Is that acceptable, Jane?" Calem asked, although it sounded more like a command.

Jane sat straight up. "Oh, of course, Calem. I'll just put it on your tab. Sorry to bother you at such a late hour," she apologized.

Calem waved the apology off. "No problem, Jane. Just keep doing your job and I'll try to make it as easy ass possible for you," he assured her.

Ash apologized once more to Jane before all three of them congregated around the front door of the hotel. Serena decided to take the initiative. "So Calem. First of all: thank you. Second of all: what are you doing out here this late and how do you know the receptionist here?" she asked.

Calem checked his pokétch and shrugged. Serena noticed that it was five minutes past midnight. "Alright, first of all: you're welcome. Second of all: I'm just taking care of some logistical elements of my participation in today's exhibition match. Oh, and training. One cannot neglect training. As for Jane, I've been using this hotel and staying out late for a while now, so Jane and I have gotten to know each other as the only human contact we have at night. She's a nice lady when you don't break the rules, I suppose. In any case, what brings you two out of bed at this hour?" Calem responded in question form.

Ash placed a hand on the back of his head nervously. "Well, I was training, and then I broke a lamppost, and then I accidentally ran into Serena. She was looking for... something, but she found it, so now we're going back to bed," Ash explained, remembering to keep the pointless secret Serena had foisted upon him.

Calem nodded knowingly, but something about his story didn't quite make sense to Serena. She hadn't noticed at first, but Calem had worked up a decent sweat doing whatever he was doing, and his normally cool and passive countenance was replaced by a slightly more on edge nervousness, still under the guise of complete control. "Calem... where's Shauna?" Serena asked, taking a shot in the dark.

Calem froze, and Serena knew she had hit the nail on the head. "Sunshine is, you know, around here somewhere. I'm sure she's just asleep in her room. Why?" He couldn't completely remove the edge from his tone.

Serena put her hands on her hips. "Calem, why are you running from Shauna? She's very clearly interested in talking to you," Serena urged, trying to subtly help her friend out.

The older trainer shook his head in denial. "Serena, I must apologize. I have things to take care of. I hope to see you all in the morning before you leave," he stated, quickly walking away out the back door of the hotel with naught but a small wave over his shoulder.

Ash turned to Serena in confusion. "What was that all about, Serena? Are Calem and Shauna fighting?" he wondered aloud.

Serena wasn't about to explain the intricate details of having a crush to her crush, so she merely shrugged. "I think Calem is just really busy. We should probably just go to-" Serena was interrupted as the revolving door of the hotel was pushing around at a blistering pace, spitting Shauna out, panting, into the presence of the two. She looked up, fire in her eyes. "Ash, Serena. Good to see you all. Which way did Calem go?" she asked impatiently.

Ash responded before Serena could explain what Calem had said to her. "He went around back. He said he was busy though," Ash admitted.

Shauna sighed heavily and nodded to herself. "Well, he still owes me a conversation after slipping away earlier. I'll have Tierno and Trevor try to get a hold of him. They were nice enough just to follow me around, but I wouldn't have you two try to track him down, especially with you dressed like that, Serena." she conceded.

Serena, trying to ignore the lack of authority being in her pajamas imparted upon her, grabbed Shauna's arm as she tried to exit out the hotel's front door to inform Tierno and Trevor of her findings. "Hold on, Shauna. Have you been chasing Calem all night? What about sleeping?" Serena asked, genuine concern in her voice.

Shauna shook her head empathetically. "Calem and I had a great chat. I went to bed, and I woke up thirty minutes ago to hear a door closing with a note from him explaining that he was going to need my help in the morning. I've been following him with Trevor and Tierno's help to get an explanation since then," Shauna stated.

Ash frowned and put a hand on his chin in contemplation. "Whatever it is Calem wants, though, he'll definitely explain it in the morning. I don't know why he felt the need to contact you like that, but if you give him space tonight, I'm sure he'll get around to explaining himself," Ash stated.

Serena was thoroughly impressed by Ash's reading of the situation, as was Shauna, who seemed to pause for a moment before gathering herself, the fire in her eyes extinguished. "You're right. I'm overreacting. I'll go to bed with the others now. If we see you in the morning, I'll let you know what Calem wanted. Good night," she said, quickly rushing out the revolving door to give the change of plans to her friends.

Ash watched the door rotate upon itself for a moment before he looked directly at Serena. "Alright, Serena, I'm officially confused and tired. Should we just go to bed before something else happens?" he asked.

Serena smiled and giggled a bit. "Same old Ash. Yeah, let's get some rest. We can help Shauna and the others out if we get the chance in the morning," she advised.

With that, the two made their way back up the stairs and towards their room, all the while the fears Serena had over losing control of her card resurfacing in the nastiest ways possible. She maintained an air of casual calm with Ash standing right there, but on the inside, questions over where her card was and how she ended up with a playing card in her pocket buzzed around in her mind like a pack of angry beedrill. As they turned a corner to start walking down their hallway, Serena's mulling was interrupted by a small girl wearing a tyrantrum onesie running up and confronting her. Bonnie clearly wasn't happy to have been awoken to find two of her friends missing. "Where have you two been?! Clemont and I have been worried sick!" Bonnie exclaimed, close to tears.

Serena felt even worse than she already did, and thankfully Ash stepped in to take the fall. "It's my fault, Bonnie. I was having problems sleeping, so I left the room to train, and that caused Serena to panic and come looking for me. It's all my fault, I'm sorry," the boy apologized.

As he spoke, Bonnie began to put the pieces together in her head, and she looked at Serena with a sly grin. Serena frowned and shook her head at the little girl, pleading with her not to say whatever embarrassing thing she was about to say. To her surprise, Bonnie nodded and relinquished her chance, yawning and turning back towards their room. "Okay, as long as you two are alright. Clemont will want to know you're alright, so come on," she spoke, motioning back to their room.

Serena leaned over to Ash as they walked back to the room. "Thanks for taking the blame. It means a lot to me," she whispered.

Ash smiled at her. "It was my fault. I would do anything to help you, Serena," he whispered back.

The warm sensation returned, filling Serena's body and maintaining itself as Ash apologized to Clemont for their little nighttime jaunt around the hotel. She clung to it viciously as she once again exchanged good nights with her friends and crawled back into bed. Questions of the location of her card, what Calem was doing contacting Shauna the way he did, how Ash managed to say and do all the right things in spite of being so dense, and even why Bonnie had chosen not to make fun of her romantic aspirations with the golden opportunity in her mind all attempted to disturb her and drag her into the despair of the unknown. Instead, she held onto the warm, unabashedly good feelings she felt when she was around Ash and her friends, the kind of emotions that picked her up and made her feel better about herself. _Tomorrow, I'm going to find my card. That's all there is to it. Worrying tonight will not solve anything. I will not give up until it's over._ That decision made, Serena forced her mind to focus on the more positive things around her as the stress of suddenly dealing with the potential loss of her offer gave way to exhaustion that brought upon sleep.

Serena's eyes snapped open as she heard the soothing sound of a glass door being shattered.


	3. Chapter 3: The Worth of Water

Having only just exposed herself to reality, Serena temporarily had trouble processing the glittering bits of moonlight now scattered around the carpet where the door to the balcony once was as shattered glass. A shadowed figure stood in the now empty doorway, clearly proud of its work. Serena pinched herself, not kindly, to ensure she wasn't simply having a nightmare. Pain splashed cold water onto her consciousness, and she came to the realization that she and her friends were being assaulted by some sort of pokémon. She identified the streams of fire emanating from the invading creature's wrists, the large claws, and the two protrusions from its head that she could only assume to be an advanced form of auditory reception. She threw that last assumption away when the monster roared. "Blaze BLAZEKIN!" it exclaimed with no small amount of aggravation.

This put a few pieces together for the performer. The guilty party in her rude awakening was none other than a mega blazekin, and certainly not the enigmatic yet friendly partner to the superhero Blazekin Man that watched over Lumiose City. She carefully observed the intruder in front of her as it stepped forward, surveying the four humans and the pikachu in front of it. Glass crunched and crinkled like fall leaves when it walked, but the pokémon gave no indication of feeling the obvious pain that it should be in, walking on what might as well have been a pokémon's spikes attack. While Serena wasn't looking forward to whatever this graceful brute of a pokémon was about to do, some part of her innately trusted the beast, as if it actually meant no harm and had only crushed the clear door to their room by some sort of incredibly implausible accident. There was no reasoning behind such naivety, and Serena found it strange that such a thought would cross her mind as she sat in such dire straits. She noticed Bonnie quivering next to her, Clemont furiously clutching his blanket while attempting to feign bravery for the sake of his sister, and Ash staring defiantly at the invader, with Pikachu ready for a battle after being denied the pleasure twice in the past twenty-four hours. The mega blazekin seemed to sniff the air before turning to face Serena directly. It stalked forward until it was standing at her bedside, obscuring her view of Ash and Clemont. It leaned over and stared directly into her face. Serena knew she should be feeling terror. There was nothing but malice in the pokémon's eyes, and Serena did indeed cower a bit under such a scrutinizing look. However, she couldn't summon up the panic the situation demanded of her, instead choosing to meet the gaze of her foe as evenly as she could. She didn't want to run away, she wanted to know what this pokémon was doing in her room after entering in such an obscene manner. The mega blazekin and Serena held their miniature staring contest for a short while before the mega Blazekin retracted itself and snatched Serena's still-open backpack from its haphazardly determined home on the floor next to her bed. Any sort of mercy Serena was willing to show towards the invader was immediately discarded. She would not tolerate the abduction of her things, and Ash made that apparent as well. "Pikachu, quick attack!" he called, finally driven to action by mega blazekin's thievery.

Pikachu, using Ash's bed as a springboard, leapt out at the mega blazekin at lightning speed. Mega blazekin cocked its head a bit, and then brought its free hand back before bringing it upwards with unprecedented velocity directly into the underside of the yellow mouse, producing a sickening cracking noise from the ceiling. "Pika!" Pikachu cried in pain as it was launched directly upwards, completely unprepared for such a timely response to what should have been a sure hit.

Pikachu had formed a crater in the wall not unlike the one Calem's gardevoir had found itself in earlier in the day, although gravity was kind enough to pluck the pokémon from its lofty perch. With the hand already holding Serena's backpack, Blazekin interfered with Pikachu's freefall, retrieving the pokémon from the air and holding it in an open clawed hand. "Pika... pikachu..." the dazed pokémon muttered, unaware of its new precarious position.

"Pikachu, snap out of it! Use thunderbolt!" Ash ordered, now practically standing on his bed thanks to adrenaline.

This time, mega blazekin reacted immediately, tightening its grip on the smaller pokémon and slamming it as hard as it could into the ground as soon as Pikachu's cheeks released their first crackle of electricity, completely knocking the pokémon out. Serena couldn't hold back a gasp at the ferocity the pokémon was displaying. Mega Blazekin cast one more glance at Serena before beginning its short trip back to the balcony, now holding Pikachu by the tail and Serena's bag firmly in its hand. "Wait! You can't take Pikachu!" Ash yelled, desperately pulling his shoes on to allow him to cross the pointed floor to reach the pokémon kidnapper.

 _I'm not standing by this time._ Serena thought, remembering the events at the ninja village all too clearly. She threw off her bedsheet towards a completely stunned Bonnie and quickly slipped on her red sandals, thankful that they weren't stored in her bag. She stood just in time to witness the mega blazekin jump from the balcony to the ground with a powerful bound, Ash following right behind, using the obnoxious tree in front of their balcony to efficiently reach the ground and pursue the foe. "Take care of Bonnie," Serena instructed in Clemont's general direction before she herself ran to the balcony and vaulted over it, using the tree to catch herself.

Serena hadn't realized how simple Ash had made climbing down a tree look. She found herself getting caught on multiple branches and scratching herself in multiple places during her descent, but her concern for both Pikachu and her own pokémon in her bag kept her moving down the tree. As she moved out on a limb to make the final jump to the ground, the branch Serena was hanging from snapped, and she plummeted into the bushes hands first with a panicked cry. Pain exploded in Serena's hands, but instead of paying attention to that, she noticed Ash had already crossed most of the length of the hotel's rear garden and was pursuing Blazekin into the woods surrounding the town. Without hesitation, Serena exited the bushes and took off, putting every ounce of her energy reservoir into catching up Ash with and retrieving her pokémon. She sprinted faster than she had earlier in the day during the chase, possibly faster than she ever had in her life. Despite the lack of light, the sheer determination that Serena put into her stride allowed her to maintain and even slightly close the distance she had from Ash. For a while, she was also able to keep track of mega blazekin via the fire produced from its wrists, but despite her valiant efforts, that flame of hope eventually started to dim. _Is it... getting... faster?_ Serena managed to wonder as she flew through the foliage after everything she had worked for on her journey. Ash, still leading the charge, started to deviate more and more as they ran, taking more rights and lefts as they continued their all out sprint. Serena was forced to stop thinking in order to put all her cognition into dodging the violent branches choking her path as she delved deeper into the woods. Eventually, Ash ground to a halt and leaned over against a tree, clearly out of breath. Serena ran a bit longer in order to catch up to her crush, startling Ash heavily with the presence of another person. "Serena?! How did you keep up with me for so long? I was sprinting that whole time!" he exclaimed in surprise.

Serena opened her mouth to explain that she didn't know how long they had been running, but instead she fell to her knees on the compact dirt, the cessation of movement ending the functionality of her already strained limbs. "Serena?!" Ash cried as he rushed forward, stopping the girl before she could completely collapse to the ground.

Serena blinked heavily, exhaustion and the desire to sleep sounding like extremely tempting reasons to take a nap right where she was, but the willpower that carried her with the swiftness she had was now redirected into keeping her conscious. "I couldn't let you face that... thing alone, Ash. I have to get my pokémon and my bag back," she stated simply.

Ash sighed and kneeled down to Serena's level, firmly keeping a hand on her back to prevent her from falling over. "Well, um, I'm amazed that you kept up with me after I've been running for this long and I appreciate your determination to help, but I don't think it was healthy for you. I need to get you back to the hotel to rest, Serena. I don't want to risk you getting injured out here," Ash explained.

Serena wasn't about to be the reason she lost her own bag. She attempted to struggle to her feet, only to have her defeated legs buckle under her, sending the girl tumbling backwards into Ash's arms. "Ash, don't give up the chase for me. You have to go catch that pokémon before it gets away!" She urged from her awkward position.

Ash shook his head solemnly, sending a few beads of sweat in all directions towards the ground. "That mega blazekin is gone, Serena. It's around here somewhere, but there's no way I can keep track of it right now, not in the dark when its speed boost ability lets it continuously raise its speed. I was about to head back to the hotel and contact the police when you appeared. I swear to you that I'll get your bag back as soon as possible. Please, let me help you get back to the hotel. It's not safe out here," Ash insisted.

Serena couldn't believe it. First her card vanished, and now her bag, with all of her valuables, clothes, poké balls, and other items had been taken from her. It was getting to be overwhelming for the performer, but she couldn't show that despair to Ash, not when he was already looking at her with such concern in his brown eyes. Instead, she commanded the tear that had begun to form in her eye to cease its progress, wiping her face with one open hand for good measure. "Ash, I'm going to be fine, I just needed a little break. I can- what?" she asked, stopped by the look of what Serena could only describe as fear mingled with worry that had contorted onto Ash's expression.

"Serena, show me your hands. Now," Ash ordered, with none of the cordiality that he usually worked to maintain with his travel companion.

The severe tone inspired Serena to comply without complaint. She held up her hands to her crush, and when she did, she found the source of Ash's anxiety. What struck Serena as strange was that she didn't feel the stab of pain from the cuts on her hands until she noticed that the lacerations were there. "Oh... I guess I didn't take that last jump to the ground too well, did I?" Serena guessed lightheartedly to ease the mood, grimacing a bit at the newfound injuries.

Ash's expression went completely serious as he nodded. "I need to get you back to Clemont. He has a first aid kit. For now... oh, right! I have this!" Ash suddenly exclaimed, rustling around in his pocket until he proudly procured a small blue handkerchief.

As soon as Serena recognized the item, she withdrew her hands from Ash's reach and ordered her motionless legs back to life, adrenaline at Ash's unspoken proposal giving her the strength necessary to stand up on her own again. She faced Ash directly and shook her head with all the sincerity she could muster. "No way, Ash. I'm not going to let you sully that handkerchief with my blood. I waited too long to return it to you just to ruin it here," she reasoned, keeping her injuries close to her chest and allowing a few drops of the crimson liquid to spatter upon the soil.

Ash frowned. "But... Serena, this is exactly what I used this thing for in the first place, back at the summer camp in Kanto. It's important to me too, trust me, because if it wasn't I wouldn't keep it with me at all times. This handkerchief may have many memories tied to it, but the only purpose it has ever served is to aid you when you fall. Please, Serena. I need to clean your hands to see how bad the cuts are," he pleaded.

Much as her complaining hands would disagree with her decision, Serena remained stubborn. "Ash, it's not that bad, really. I've gotten plenty of cuts and bruises from ryhorn racing practice. This is nothing, honestly," she reassured, discreetly nursing both hands and wishing she hadn't noticed that she had hurt herself in the first place.

Ash shook his head in denial. "I know you're in pain Serena, and not just because your hands are hurt. I'm telling you that I'm here to help you. You don't have to hide anything from me, because I would never do anything to hurt you. I trust you just as much as I trust any one of my traveling companions, and I need you to trust me with this," Ash persuaded soothingly.

That particular comment cut a bit deeper than any physical pain attacking Serena's skin, her mind drifting far further than Ash's implications. Guilt racked her body as she pictured her business card currently located in some unknown part of town. _It's such a simple thing that he asks of me. Just trust. When I first gave it to him at the beginning of my journey, no, when I met him for the first time, he never failed to pick me out of every difficult point in my life. And I haven't given it to him for this decision, and now the card is gone. Not to mention that I've never trusted him with how I feel. Maybe... if I open up about this, then just maybe I can get him to open up a bit more about some other things... But I can't do that right now. Not when both of our pokémon need our help._ "Ash... I'm sorry," Serena spoke with hesitation before cutting herself off, unsure of how to continue.

Ash paused expectantly for a moment, then spoke on his own when Serena didn't fill the void her sentence left with an explanation. "There's no need to apologize, Serena. I just want to make sure you're alright. May I?" he asked, holding out a hand with the blue handkerchief that brought them together limp in his grasp.

Serena shook herself. Ash didn't understand her apology. "No, I-I meant to apologize for, um, actually, never mind. I can explain later. I just... don't want to ruin the one thing that symbolizes our first meeting," Serena spoke, her voice getting quieter as her desires were almost lost in ambiance of the still night air.

Ash, for the first time that evening, grinned. "You know what makes this handkerchief special, Serena?" he asked.

Serena's features contorted in befuddlement. "What?" she responded.

Ash stepped forward and placed his free hand on Serena's shoulder. "No matter what stains this handkerchief, it can never get dirty enough to ruin the friendship it started. Even better, we can wash it!" he spoke with a chuckle.

Serena attempted to ignore the small stab of disappointment she associated with the label Ash had handed her, chastising her lack of patience while outwardly reciprocating his chuckle with a giggle of her own. He did have a point, after all, and she would wash the blue cloth a hundred times herself to restore its pristine condition if she had to. "Alright, just be gentle with it please," Serena acquiesced with a small smile.

Ash nodded empathetically as Serena finally opened her hands to her crush. Ash took the right one gingerly and began to carefully remove the blood from the girls hands, taking care not to further irritate the broken skin. Doing so allowed Serena to see the sources of her discomfort for the first time. The wounds themselves weren't actually that deep, as she suspected, and the blood only served to disguise what essentially amounted to four or five long paper cuts. Finishing his work, Ash seemed reassured by his discoveries and moved on to Serena's left hand, cleaning it with similar findings and little incident. Ash removed his now blue and red cloth and breathed a sigh of relief. "Done. You were right, Serena, it isn't that bad, thankfully. We should still have Clemont look at your hands when we get back though. An infection is the last thing we need right now. Can you walk back to the hotel alright?" Ash asked, returning the handkerchief carefully to his pocket.

Serena looked at her hands and then at her legs, which incredibly hadn't collapsed upon themselves from lack of energy. It was possible that all the travelling Serena was doing had started to improve her stamina. She nodded to Ash. "Yeah... I think I can make it back. And thank you, Ash. It means a lot to me that you would be willing to help me out like this," Serena said gratefully.

Ash smiled. "Of course! We'll get you patched up and have your bag and Pikachu back in no time!" he exclaimed with unquenchable confidence that Serena had always admired.

The aspiring pokémon master took the lead as the two made their way back through the dense forest towards the hotel, or at least what Serena hoped was the hotel. Ash insisted that he knew the correct way to go, and Serena for one felt completely lost, abandoned by her town map out in the field for the first time. _It's only temporary. Ash will make sure we get everything back soon enough._ Serena reassured herself, unwavering in that confidence. As they continued through the nonexistent path back to civilization, a slightly worrisome thought struck Serena, and she picked up her pace to walk next to Ash. "Ash... I was wondering. You said something earlier about how you trust me as much as you trust your travelling companions. Why don't you ever talk about the people you've travelled with to Clemont, Bonnie and I?" she asked, a bit uncertain if she wanted to hear the answer.

Ash paused for a moment, only to quickly resume his walking. "Oh, well, it just never came up. Before I came to Kalos, I had a bunch of friends that travelled with me at various times over five regions, but I guess they just don't get talked about by people that don't know them. Why do you ask?" he asked innocently.

Serena pursed her lips. Ash didn't really answer her question. "Like I said, I'm just curious as to why _you_ never talk about them. If you told us who they were, they might come up more," she pointed out.

Ash turned and continued to walk backwards, spreading his arms out wide to embrace the night sky. "I guess it's just a really big topic. As big as the air, you know?" he reasoned, with what Serena thought was an edge of nervousness in his voice.

Serena decided to push the envelope. "Then start with something simple. What were their names?" she asked.

Ash didn't hesitate. "Misty, Brock, Tracy, May, Max, Dawn, Iris, Cilan, Clemont and Bonnie, in that order," he stated clearly and concisely.

Serena tilted her head. "And?" she offered.

Ash stopped walking and copied her movement. "And what?" he responded.

Serena sighed and pointed a finger to herself dejectedly. Ash started. "Oh, right, sorry, Serena. I get confused sometimes because we technically met before I started my journey but I forgot you until you became a travelling companion, and... you're just different, alright?" Ash finally concluded in a hurry.

Indignation overcame Serena. "And just what do you mean by that, Ash Ketchum?" she demanded to know suspiciously.

Ash was very clearly uneasy now. "No, not like that! What I mean, Serena, is that, um, you're really important to me... no... well, yes, but... I don't know Serena, it was just a mistake, alright?!" Ash insisted quickly.

Serena paused. She had never seen Ash so... flustered. She chose her next words very carefully. "It's alright, Ash, everyone makes mistakes. We can talk about this later, alright? I just wanted to learn a thing or two about these mysterious travelling companions you've had before," she eventually stated.

Ash grinned in relief. "Oh, well, if that's all, then yeah, we can talk about them some other time if you remind me. I just tend to focus on what's in front of me, you know? Memory isn't my thing, it's Clemont's. But please don't think that you're not a travelling companion to me, Serena. You're honestly one of my best friends. In any case, I think the hotel's just up ahead!" Ash exclaimed jovially as he turned around while he was speaking.

Serena wasn't satisfied with her findings. Despite his initial forgetfulness, Ash had proven to her that she wasn't the first travelling companion, certainly not the first female one, and he clearly didn't talk much about his friends once he couldn't see them anymore. Even worse, he had her in some sort of category outside of the other companions that he clearly wasn't comfortable talking to her about, even if he outwardly claimed that she had the same position as the others before her. She pondered how she herself was filling a role, how eventually she would just be another name on Ash's list that he would explain to some other girl in another year of his journey, never to resurface in his mind again until the next companion asked the same question. _I can't let things end like that, just another person filling an arbitrary role before going off to do something else. I have to be more proactive if I want to make my journey worthwhile. That starts with getting my bag back._ Serena's thoughts were strong, but they served merely as a façade for the turmoil that no amount of self-reassurance could completely mask. More than anything, she just wanted to let everything out, spill her worries and concerns about everything from her card to her bag to her feelings for Ash, and all of it was forcibly locked inside of her, with no safe outlet of release. As the surprisingly large amount of lights coming from the hotel greeted the two on their path to the hotel's back entrance, Serena started to wonder if she had really made the right decision in continuing to stick with Ash. Everything she had was gone, and her entire reason for staying had insisted with empathy that she was at best a very close friend. Serena's crush held the door for her as she reentered their home for the night, and she was a bit shocked to see Jane standing among the center of a decently sized crowd of people, for a hotel lobby at least. She and Ash moved covertly closer to hear her talking to the mob. "I'm telling all of you, there was an accident in one of the rooms, but the problem is being dealt with as we speak. I personally apologize for any inconvenience and I promise that any questions you may have will be answered when more information becomes available. You are perfectly safe here at Cinder Town Hotel," she stated with unique tranquility among the annoyed glares she was receiving from her audience.

"Why won't you explain what happened?"

"You woke up my psyduck! Now it has a massive headache and my bed is floating!"

"I want a refund!"

The angry cries only continued to escalate, but all the while Jane maintained her composure, delicately picking out questions like fruit from an angry tree to answer one at a time. Ash tapped Serena on the shoulder and pointed to the stairwell. "Come on, we need to get your hands checked out and go make sure the siblings are alright," Ash urged quietly.

Serena nodded, not about to get involved in another quagmire she couldn't resolve, and the two made their way back to the second floor. Contrary to Jane's statement, there was nothing special about Ash and Serena's room as they approached save for a hastily written note on the door in Clemont's handwriting.

 _Ash and Serena-_

 _No offense, but I assumed that you wouldn't be able to catch that mega blazekin without your pokémon, so we contacted the police, but officer Jenny said that they're all busy with some other crime at the moment. She didn't describe it, but if it's so important that they can't spare one officer for us then it must be critical. To make up for it she got the hotel to give us another room on the third floor and promised to investigate in the morning. I'm leaving this note because Bonnie didn't want to stay here and I couldn't blame her. Once you get your things you can meet us. We'll be standing outside our new room. Please hurry, I need help with controlling Bonnie._

 _-Clemont_

Ash pulled the note off the door and handed it to Serena after scanning it briefly. "Well, at least officer Jenny got us another room. Serena, do you want me to get your stu-" Ash started to ask before he remembered where Serena's bag was and cut himself off.

Serena gave Ash an understanding smile. "It's fine, Ash. I'll help you get your things," she said as she pushed open the door to their former room with her arm.

Aside from the bits of glass scattered like freshly fallen snow on the ground and the blankets tossed one way or another in the rush to pursue the room's attacker, the hotel room itself wasn't in terrible condition, if Serena could ignore the gaping hole in the door. Ash immediately headed into the bathroom, which confused Serena until she noticed him fishing the handkerchief out of his pocket. She couldn't help but blush a little at his thoughtfulness. Even if he only saw her as a friend, Ash knew how to make her feel like the most important person in the world when he wanted to. She decided to help him organize his belongings and was crossing the sharp minefield carefully when something pink caught her eye. Not daring to believe her luck, Serena turned to her bed and cautiously crouched down to confirm that she had indeed forgotten to repack the set of clothes she had removed from her backpack in her frenzy to find her card. Her first instinct was to snatch the clothes in front of her and hug them, not only for ensuring that she wouldn't have to walk to the nearest clothing store in her pajamas, but also because her pocket still contained her precious blue ribbon and the playing card that was her only lead towards finding Palermo's card. Fortunately, Serena stopped herself when she remembered her hands. She quickly stood up and moved to the sink to wash them so that she could properly handle the clothes, too excited at the prospect of owning proper attire to remember that Ash was currently using the sink. She burst into the bathroom with a giddy grin on her face, which caused Ash, still wringing out the blue cloth, to jump a little. "Everything alright, Serena?" he questioned slowly.

Serena beamed at him. "Ash, I forgot to put my clothes in my bag! I have something to wear tomorrow!" she spoke in elation.

Ash thought about that for a moment before sharing in her mirth. "That's great, Serena! I didn't even think that you wouldn't have something to change into tomorrow. I would have let you borrow my clothes if you really needed to," he said.

Privately Serena made a mental note to take Ash up on his offer some other time, and outwardly she nodded. "I appreciate the thought, Ash. Can I just wash my hands really fast? I don't want to risk getting my only pair of clothes dirty," she explained.

Ash nodded, straightening out the handkerchief and examining it. For such a short period of time and with no cleaning products, he had done an incredibly efficient job of removing any and all vestiges of blood from the blue cloth, leaving only faint tinges of faded red spattered here and there across the surface. "I'll make sure there's no glass hidden in your clothes or my things then," he decided, and he left Serena to her own devices in the bathroom.

Serena, for all of her recent doubts, couldn't help but revel a bit in the small victory her uncharacteristic untidiness had won her. At least something positive had resulted from her losing her business card. She even hummed a tune to herself as she scrubbed her hands, completely ignoring every jab of pain that shot through her senses as she scraped the injuries together. She became so lost in thought, in fact, that she neglected to hear the sound of a poké ball as it released a pokémon right in the room next to her. Her now raw hands only received a reprieve when the pokémon that had been released let out a cry of dismay at not seeing its trainer. "Sylveon!" spoke the pokémon from the other room.

Things sort of stood still for a moment. If getting her clothes back after potentially losing them had set off fireworks in her mind, hearing one of her pokémon triggered the Fourth of July. Serena slammed the handle on the sink to turn it off and practically jumped out of the room to confirm the rumor her ears were telling her. There, on her bed, was Serena's sylveon, illuminated by the moon behind it and casting a distraught glance around the room that softened when it saw its trainer. Ash said something about finding a poké ball underneath Serena's clothes, but she didn't hear him. She rushed forward and enveloped her fairy type in a hug, barely remembering to not touch the pokémon with her hands. Sylveon wrapped its feelers affectionately around its trainer while Serena closed her eyes and allowed the moment to sink in. Tears, refusing to hold back any longer, slowly began to stream down her face, and Serena could almost physically feel her problems melting in the warmth of companionship and understanding that she felt from her pokémon. "I'm so glad you're safe, Sylveon. We're going to get the others back tomorrow for sure with your help," Serena stated, for the first time with some real confidence in her speech.

"Sylveon ve." Sylveon spoke in the most comfortable tone it could manage.

Ash continued to gather up his belongings alone with Serena's clothes until the only matter at hand was to leave the room itself, but he wasn't about to interrupt Serena's moment. Serena held Sylveon for a while, how long exactly she wasn't sure. When she eventually did let go, she paused briefly to whisper into her third pokémon's ear, "You have no idea how much you mean to me. I'm going to do a better job of protecting you and the others," she insisted.

Sylveon, realizing that it was now the only pokémon in Serena's possession, immediately agreed with its trainer with a nod. Ash stepped forward with discretion and returned Sylveon's poké ball to Serena. She briefly considered returning what was currently her only pokémon, but quickly threw away the notion when she looked into the fairy type's big, blue, pleading eyes. She wasn't really willing to let one of her pokémon out of her sight at the moment anyways. The performer in that instant came to an epiphany about how much her pokémon meant to her, and how much better of a job she could be doing to show them that appreciation. She nodded briefly to Ash and allowed her pokémon to wrap one of its feelers around her wrist like a makeshift leash before the new group of three exited the room for the final time and made their way back to the stairwell. When they reached the third floor corridor, they easily spotted Clemont in his day attire and Bonnie in her pajama onesie sitting against one of the doors about halfway down the hall. As soon as Bonnie spotted the two, both her and Clemont shot up like rockets and moved as quickly as two groggy people could to meet their friends. Sylveon immediately became, to its dismay, the center of attention. "Serena, Ash! You made it back safely! And you found Sylveon? Does that mean..." Clemont trailed off in barely suppressed hope.

Serena shook her head sadly. "We tried, honestly, but that mega blazekin got away. Sylveon's poké ball happened to not be in my bag, along with a set of clothes, so that's why it's here. Bonnie, please let Sylveon go," Serena finished in exasperation, referring to Bonnie clinging onto Sylveon like it was a stuffed animal.

Bonnie immediately released the pokémon and apologized, which Sylveon thankfully took gracefully. Ash cleared his throat and spoke up. "Clemont, you still have that first aid kit, right? I need you to look at Serena's hands. She cut them trying to follow me," Ash explained with a bit of urgency.

At the mention of injury, Clemont snapped to attention. "Right away. Serena, let's get in the room so you can sit on a bed," the scientist instructed, leading the group back to the door he and Bonnie were sitting against and opening it to allow them inside.

Serena followed her friend's instructions and sat on the nearest bed in the room identical to their previous one while Bonnie followed her. "Serena, you hurt yourself? Are you alright? Can I help?" she spoke at a rapid-fire pace.

To respond simply, Serena held out her hands for Bonnie to see, and allowed the young girl to gawk at the cuts marking her skin. "Wow... you're really brave for not complaining, Serena! I want to be as brave as you and Ash are for going after bad guys like you did!" she exclaimed with completely inappropriate joy given the situation.

Clemont appeared with a small first aid kit behind his sister, shaking his head. "Bonnie, being brave is all well and good, but I think it's best you leave any heroics to the three of us, at least until you have a pokémon of your own, or you might get hurt, right Serena?" Clemont lectured as he took Serena's hands and applied some disinfectant to them, causing the performer to wince at the stinging medicine.

Serena recognized the teaching moment happening and quickly nodded in agreement with Clemont, which caused Bonnie to pout a bit at being chastised. While she understood Bonnie's frustration, Clemont made plenty of sense. After all, if she had a younger sibling, she wouldn't want them doing what Ash and occasionally herself and Clemont did. In fact, she wasn't sure, as admirable as it was sometimes, that she wanted Ash risking his neck, even for others, as many times as he did. _If something ever happened to him... I don't know what I would do._ Ash stepped forward. "Clemont, we didn't have time to get ready. I had to get Pikachu back before that pokémon got away. There was no way we could wait for anything," he defended, completely missing Clemont's point.

Clemont sighed and stood. "I know, Ash, it's who you are, and I don't have a problem with that. I'm just trying to explain to Bonnie that we take those risks so that she doesn't have to. Serena, could you come in the bathroom with me for a moment? I want to wash your hands off," he asked wearily.

Serena was confused at Clemont's tired reactions, but she reluctantly left Sylveon with Ash and followed Clemont into the washroom and allowed him to close the door behind her. She moved to turn the sink on, but Clemont held up a hand to halt her. "You don't need to wash your hands, Serena. They have disinfectant on them already. I need to talk to you for a minute," he stated with a strangely cold tone.

At this point, Serena could be safely considered discombobulated. "Clemont, I don't understand. You just said that you don't have a problem with Ash doing that heroic thing he's so good at," she pointed out.

Clemont placed his first aid kit on the smooth granite surrounding the sink. "I don't, trust me, as difficult as it is sometimes trying to get Bonnie not to copy his antics when she isn't prepared to do what he does yet. I just wanted to finish this without any more... interruptions," he finally admitted, a hint of nervousness creeping into his voice.

Serena tilted her head at the delivery and patiently waited for Clemont to explain himself, but the boy merely sighed, pulled out a roll of white gauze and took one of Serena's hands, wrapping the white bandage around her palm a few times. Eventually the silence grew too deafening for Serena to deal with. "Clemont, would you mind explaining why you had me come in here?" Serena asked cautiously.

Clemont looked up from his work, and Serena realized the inventor was blushing the blush he normally reserved for when Bonnie tried to get him to marry somebody. "Um... I'm so sorry, Serena! Please forgive me! I know you've been through a lot today, but I can't hold this in any longer! It was an accident, I swear!" he apologized loudly startling the girl, who would have stumbled back had Clemont not maintained his grip on her arm.

"Clemont, what are you talking about? You haven't done anything wrong," Serena responded, unsure of the truthfulness of her own statement based on Clemont's actions.

Clemont froze, only to sigh to himself heavily before moving on to bandage Serena's other hand. "Serena... when I was trying to fix your town map for you earlier today... I... noticed something. It wasn't on purpose I swear! I had to go into the source code of your device to look for errors, and when I did... I noticed that in every city we had visited, you had done research on the same thing. It wasn't the most unusual thing for a girl, I suppose, but I couldn't help but draw connections between the searches and the types of people that would be interested in what you were searching for," Clemont finally revealed.

Serena went stiff as a board as Clemont finished wrapping her other hand in gauze. There was only one thing she remembered looking up on her map almost every time they travelled somewhere. _He's going to put the pieces together. Why do I have to look up date locations Ash would like every time we visit a town?!_ "Um... listen, Clemont, I..." Serena began before Clemont raised a hand again to stop her.

"I may not have knowledge as comprehensive as Bonnie or yourself on matters like love or infatuation, and I'm not going to ask questions about it because it really isn't any of my business. I know you weren't doing it for me because there was no gap in the period when I left the group, and most of what you left open in each town's browser was something Ash would enjoy. You don't need to worry about me saying or doing anything about it, but if you ever need help with this, I can promise you that I'll do my best to be of some assistance. Again, I'm sorry to even bring it up right now, but I couldn't hold in the guilt any longer. Can you promise me one thing, Serena?" Clemont asked.

Serena's heart skipped a beat or five. "What's that?" she managed to utter.

Clemont picked up his first aid kit and gave his friend an understanding smile. "When you decide to tell him how you feel... ask him after his response how it felt for him to hear your confession," the boy requested, a bit wistfully.

There were a million things racing through Serena's mind. Everyone in the group now knew how she felt about the one member who remained oblivious to the fact. Everything Serena had worked towards was still gone, and she was left standing in a bathroom listening to her friend make an unusual request of her on top of carrying out the one task she dreaded almost as much as not performing it. At the same time, she was questioning her purpose on this journey and whether she was even doing the right thing in pursuing such a long shot in Ash, following her heart over the promise of fame. She forced her lips to form a response while she composed herself. "I... appreciate your support, Clemont. You don't need to feel guilty about finding out, you would have done it some other way eventually. As for your request... I'll think about it. I have to work up the nerve to say something to Ash first, you know," she managed to say.

Clemont put a hand comfortingly on Serena's shoulder. "I can't ask you for anything more. Your hands should be fine in a day or so as long as you leave the bandages on until tomorrow night. The best thing for all of us now is rest. We can contact officer Jenny again first thing in the morning to start getting your things and Pikachu back. Are you feeling alright, Serena? I know it was unorthodox of me to say anything like that," he rationalized as he let her go to place his free hand on the bathroom door handle.

Serena looked down at her hands, firmly wrapped up to prevent the further aggravation of her injuries. Each cut she had was a problem that had been solved by Clemont's doctoring ability. _I should treat my problems like the way Clemont treated my hands._ _I have to take control of my situation more efficiently. As it stands, things are only going to get more out of control if I don't do anything. Until my pokémon are back, until Ash's pikachu is safe, until I find my business card, and until I can look Ash in the eye and trust him with absolutely everything I'm feeling, I'm not going to give up, because it won't be over until I finish this journey on my terms._ "I'm going to be fine, Clemont. Thank you for telling me this in private," Serena spoke gratefully for Clemont's courtesy that his sister completely lacked.

Clemont nodded. "You and Ash are two very good friends of mine that I would only want the best for, Serena. I would never try to change that," Clemont responded genuinely as he opened the door.

Scuffling from the outside caused Serena's heart to drop as she assumed that Bonnie had been eavesdropping on their conversation, but she heaved a sigh of relief when she realized it was only Sylveon, sitting patiently at the door for its trainer. Serena gave the pokémon a warm smile in the absence of using her hands to pet it as she returned to her bed, next to which her clothes and single poké ball had been placed, along with a bottle of water. Ash sat on a bed talking quietly to Bonnie, but he looked up when his friends reappeared. Clemont explained the plan in the morning to the two who hadn't heard it. Serena suddenly felt a rush of energy exit her body, the imminent promise of sleep causing her brain to remind the girl just how physically and emotionally drained she was. The performer decided to allow herself the pleasure of escaping the day's events, and she slipped out of her sandals and into her bed, letting out a drowsy good night to her friends. Her friends probably said something in response, but Serena received nothing from her senses save for a feeler wrapping around her hand, which she immediately realized was Sylveon, curled up at the side of her bed to protect her injuries. She felt a deep appreciation in that moment for her single remaining pokémon that she didn't know how to properly express, so she merely stroked her pokémon's feelers as the rapidly fading voices of her friends were drowned out in the dark sea of sleep.

* * *

Serena awoke to bright light streaming into her face. She blinked away the invasive rays of the sun as she struggled to get her bearings. It took a moment, but Serena eventually realized that she was alone. No, that wasn't quite right. Sylveon was still there, sitting patiently at the foot of Serena's bed and staring at its trainer. Still groggy, Serena waved weakly at the fairy type. "Good morning, Sylveon. Where are Ash and the others?" she asked with a cute yawn.

Sylveon paced over to Serena's side and removed a note from the bedside table that Serena didn't even realize was there. "Sylveon!" it stated proudly, placing the paper in front of its trainer with a feeler.

Serena gave her pokémon a grateful smile and tried to shake the cobwebs out of her thoughts to read the words that she discerned to be Ash's scrawl.

 _Serena,_

 _We went to have breakfast in the lobby. If you're reading this, we're still down there. Sorry we didn't wake you up, but Sylveon insisted that you keep sleeping. We'll head to the police station when you're ready._

 _-Ash_

Serena read and re-read the note, tracing her hand aimlessly over the calligraphy as the events of the last twenty-four hours resurfaced in a hulking mass of worry and anxiety. _One crisis at a time. Prioritize, Serena, s_ he instructed to herself. The performer turned to her pokémon. "Sylveon, you should have woken me up. I'm going to hold everyone up getting ready and eating now," Serena lamented.

The fairy type shook its head empathetically and wrapped a feeler around Serena's hand with enough discretion to prevent the aggravation of her injury. Serena sighed. "I'm going to be fine, Sylveon, honestly. The most important thing right now is that we find the others as soon as possible, and I can't do that when I'm sleeping," she reasoned.

Sylveon didn't appear convinced, and while Serena was touched by its thoughtfulness and understood that the pokémon was only worried about its trainer's well-being, she also wasn't about to let mere cuts keep her from her missing pokémon. She gave Sylveon a small pet on the head for its compassion and hastily began to make her way out of bed when her ears picked up the sound of the door turning. Serena's paranoia kicked in, and she immediately stood up straight and stepped in front of Sylveon to keep whatever was out there away from her only remaining pokémon, while said pokémon only appeared confused at its trainer's actions. The trainer understood why when the door opened and Ash stepped as silently as possible into the room, only to drop the stealth when he noticed Serena standing upright. "Oh good, you're awake. I brought you some food, Serena. Clemont, Bonnie and I will be waiting for you in the lobby, but please don't rush yourself. We wouldn't start searching without you," Ash reassured his friend.

Euphoric relief overcame Serena, and her growling stomach drew her attention to the plate Ash held gingerly in one hand, full of several of her favorite breakfast foods. Clearly Ash had been paying attention to her preferences. The boy placed his edible bounty on the nearest bed and looked strangely uncomfortable. "Right, so I'll be downstairs with the others until you're ready. Can I get you anything else, Serena?" he inquired.

It might have been some unreleased memory from the fantastical realm of sleep, a roaring desire that rooted itself in the primal necessity to eat food, or even the simplicity of Ash's oblivious kindness that so enamored Serena in that moment while Ash stood there, waiting with the faintest of smiles dancing across his mouth for his friend to say the words necessary to release him. In that specific moment, trivial as it was, Ash had sought her out and gone out of his way to try and make her feel better. It reminded the performer exactly why she had a crush on Ash, and why that crush had rapidly evolved into infatuation and later love, even after all the time they spent apart. She wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around him and proclaim for all to hear the deepest secrets her soul had held onto for far too long. _Prioritize. Your pokémon._ Serena's voice reprimanded sternly, eerily emulating her mother, forcing Serena to temporarily push aside her desires that could afford to wait a bit longer. "Ash, getting the food is more than I could ever ask for, so thank you for that. I promise I won't be long," Serena insisted, bending over to claim her only other pair of clothes as evidence of her statement.

Ash grinned his toothy grin. "Alright, Serena. I'm here for you if you need anything. We'll find Pikachu and your bag for sure!" he exclaimed as he turned and bolted out of the room, again leaving Serena the lone human in the room.

Serena smiled in spite of herself at the childish excitement Ash held onto despite the situation. She couldn't mope, not when Ash was so positive without his favorite pokémon by his side, optimistic in the face of any adversity. She moved rapidly, consuming her food (sharing it with Sylveon), washing herself (Taking advantage of the hotel's complimentary hygiene products), throwing on her day clothes (with care only given to her blue ribbon gift from Ash), and making her way downstairs (again allowing Sylveon to stay at her side). As she reentered the lobby, Serena was met with another comically rowdy group of people arguing over the previous night's events with the morning shift employee who clearly knew as much as they did about what had happened when he wasn't there, as well as her friends lounging around on a couch near the front door. She greeted them all warmly and received similar reciprocation, and the four of them set out for the police station, crossing again through the residential district of town and over its flowing heart to approach the police station next to the pokémon center. Along the way, she discussed with Ash and the others their plan for dealing with mega blazekin. Ash favored brute force, Clemont suggested they try to trap it, and Bonnie even asked if they could try to catch it before Clemont pointed out that the blazekin would have had to have a trainer around in order to mega evolve, which made all of them kick themselves for not looking around for the trainer the previous night. Serena eventually pointed out that officer Jenny would likely have the best plan, which everyone could agree on. With the station in sight, Serena was able to make out a form standing a sort of vigil in front of the doors to the blue building. She was about to comment on the number of doors this town seemed to arbitrarily block off before Bonnie spoke up, "Calem! Hey! It's Bonnie! Hi!" she shouted.

A few people turned their heads at the shouting and the mention of the name that had brought down Diantha less than twenty-four hours ago, but the form didn't react. Serena was having a hard time accepting that Calem was the person Bonnie had identified, as the man in front of the station was wearing a red fedora, an olive green hoodie, black sneakers, and brown skinny jeans instead of what the trainer had worn yesterday, but the recurring green bag and way he tossed a poké ball carelessly in the air with the same motion as when they first met gave him away. When the four finally reached him, he paused in his idle activity briefly to scan the area and ensure people had stopped paying attention. When they had, he faced the group directly. "Hello everyone. Apologies, but I'm supposed to be incognito while I stand out here and prevent people from accessing a free public service. Oh, is that a sylveon? It's as lovely looking as its trainer, Serena," Calem greeted with the expected cool tone.

Serena was just a bit uncomfortable at Calem's remark, especially with Ash standing right there and Shauna's clear infatuation with the older boy. Sylveon picked up on this and growled a bit at Calem while Ash didn't visibly react, save for a small twitch in his hands that could have realistically been a result of any number of causes. Calem himself chuckled at the pokémon's reaction. "Relax, friend, just a harmless compliment. I don't suppose you four have official business here, do you? Because if you do, then, well, I'd say we have a problem, but technically I can't stop you from going inside, so it's really more of a problem for me than it is for you. So, what's the problem? Nobody just talks to each other anymore, there's always a problem that needs solving in there somewhere," he began to ramble.

As Serena tried to figure out where exactly Calem was going with this sudden shift to unnecessarily baffling syntax, Clemont stepped forward and interrupted. "Calem, a pokémon broke into our hotel room last night and stole both Pikachu and Serena's bag. We tried to contact the police last night, but they said that they wouldn't be able to help us until the morning. I don't suppose you would know something about that, would you?" Clemont asked.

Calem paused. "You know, I knew something was off about you today, Ash, but I just couldn't place it. Now I see, you're missing a part of yourself. Same for you, Serena. I'm sorry that happened to you all, but you seem like a capable group of trainers and a young girl. You'll get your things back in no time, I'm sure. Don't worry, I wouldn't actually bother to do my job out here. I get the feeling your story is going to shake up Snap's little detective career, so please, enter the lion's den," he spoke genuinely, opening the door to the police station for Serena and the others.

Serena cast a slightly suspicious glance towards the guard as she entered the police station, Sylveon mimicking its trainer while everyone else, Calem included, filed in behind the pair. The police station's interior wasn't anything special, consisting of pale blue walls, several red chairs scattered at random around the tile floor, a dangerous looking iron door that consisted of the room's only other opening besides the front entrance, and a help desk, currently occupied by officer Jenny as she filed papers furiously. As the group entered, Jenny dropped her pen and swiped a hand across her desk, quickly shoving the documents out of immediate view. "Calem! You had one job! It's bad enough I had to let your friends in here. I am NOT going to tolerate any more visitors today!" the officer ranted, almost incoherently.

Calem stepped to the head of the pack. "Officer, I believe these four have some information relevant to the matter at hand. Their things were stolen last night, and I for one think it's rather dodgy that a pokémon should randomly decide to steal other people's pokémon and things on the exact same night that a champion is assaulted by one," Calem formally spoke, dropping his more eccentric attitude from outside.

Before Serena and the others could react to Calem's assertion that the champion had been attacked, a vein appeared on Jenny's head as she stood up straight from her desk. "Calem... that is confidential information. Yes, I promised to help these victims today, but it's going to have to wait for a while, at least until this matter is sorted. You can't go around telling people classified secrets!" Jenny stated in exasperation.

Calem tilted his head like he didn't understand. "But I wasn't just telling people. I was telling Ash, Serena, Bonnie and Clemont that Diantha was jumped by a pokémon last night, and that said pokémon badly poisoned both Diantha and her gardevoir before making off into the night with Gardevoir's mega stone," he revealed.

Ash and Serena exchanged a shocked look. _Someone attacked Diantha? Is she alright?_ Serena wondered. Officer Jenny closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Give me one reason not to arrest you right now for telling them that, Calem. One reason," she ordered with barely controlled rage.

Calem grinned cheekily. "Because, officer, you and I both know you're wildly in love with me," he stated simply.

Serena felt like attacking Calem herself as Jenny reached into her pocket and withdrew a poké ball. She didn't throw it, instead opting to hold it menacingly in front of the would-be jester. "The reason you're looking for used to be in here. I haven't forgotten your promise, league winner," she said frostily.

Ash finally interrupted the soap opera. "Can we back up to the part where Diantha was attacked please? Is she alright? Where is she?" he questioned.

Jenny looked at Ash as if she was noticing him for the first time before lowering her poké ball and withdrawing a rag to polish it with meticulous detail. "I'm assuming that you're Ash. You and the others weren't supposed to know, but yes, the champion was attacked by some sort of pokémon last night, and both her and Gardevoir are being cared for in the back of the pokémon center, which is under our protection, of course. Nurse Joy is hoping that the two will recover soon, although she doesn't recognize the poison used on them. For now, they are both unconscious. Sorry, but I can't spare you the officers right now because they're all either watching the champion, searching for evidence, or in the back with the suspect," she explained in a stately manner.

Serena's mind whirred, trying to keep up with the tsunami of information she had just been blasted with. _Why would someone attack Diantha just to get a key stone? What do Calem and the others have to do with this? Who is the suspect?_ "What's in the poké ball, officer?" Bonnie suddenly asked, startling everyone a bit.

Jenny looked up to deliver a tart reply, but her aggressiveness melted a bit when it met the gaze of the innocent child. "It used to be home to my closest partner. Arf vanished a few months ago, and I've been looking for it ever since then. When I find whoever caused Arf to disappear..." she said, the implications all to clear as she clenched the rag tightly in her hand.

Calem grinned. "You'll stop being a jerk?" he finished for her.

Jenny looked ready to slug Calem, but Clemont stepped in between the two. "If we could focus here for a moment. Officer, you said the suspect was in the back? May we see him/her? Calem implied that our break-in and this assault may have a connection," the inventor reasoned.

Jenny took a deep breath to eliminate her livid state. "Right... I'm being unprofessional. Calem, you can help with the investigation, but if you continue to hinder our work by bringing people in and not doing the jobs I give you, I will have to have you removed from the premises. As for your request, Clemont... I have no evidence other than your word that the two problems may be related, and that's not going to be enough," she denied simply.

Clemont's brow furrowed in frustration. Serena felt a nudge on her shoulder. She looked to her left to see Calem staring at her. "Hey. Ask her again," he whispered to her.

Serena raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Why?" she inquired.

Sylveon raised a feeler aggressively as it noticed Calem's proximity to its trainer. Calem ignored the pokémon. "Because it will work. Trust me," he insisted.

Considering her options, Serena shrugged. It wasn't as if she had anything to lose. She stepped in between Ash and Clemont to take the point position in their group. "Officer Jenny, I know it might not be considered a part of regulations, but the pokémon that broke into our room took nearly everything I own. If there's any chance the person you've arrested has any connection to the mega blazekin we saw last night, I have to at least talk to them," Serena pleaded.

Officer Jenny blinked at the girl for a minute, recalling something. "Serena... you wouldn't happen to be the same Serena from the master class performance, would you?" she asked suspiciously.

Serena tensed up a bit. _Why does everybody suddenly know me?_ "Well, yes, I am. Why?" she asked.

The police officer reached into her desk and removed a small booklet, glistening with silver and pink sparkles. She stepped away from the desk and handed the booklet and a pen to Serena. "Can I have your autograph?" she asked with a completely straight face.

Serena looked back to Calem, who gave her a thumbs up. Eventually, she shrugged and signed on the page the police officer pointed out for her. Jenny thanked her a bit excitedly before returning the book to its place and adopting her serious face again. "Alright. You can talk to the suspect, since you all basically know everything anyways, and if you're here you can't spread the word and cause a panic in the entire region. I allowed Shauna and her two friends back there earlier, you can meet up with them. Before you say anything, Arf is really into performing, so I have to get the signatures of famous performers when they pass through town," Jenny explained.

Calem nodded gratefully, covering up Serena's blush at being called famous. "Thank you, officer. I think I'll head to the back as well," he casually stated.

Jenny's fiery side roared back to life. "No way. You want to stick around, you go back outside and guard the door. NOBODY else is allowed in here if you want to remain involved with this case. These four and your friends are the only exceptions. Understood?" she asked.

Calem looked like he really wanted to argue, but simply tipped his fedora to the cop and returned outside without a word. Bonnie waved him off while Ash patted Serena on the back. "Great job, Serena. Now, let's see if we can help out the champion in addition to getting our pokémon back," he said.

Serena smiled at the praise and nodded. Jenny walked over to the heavy iron door and unlocked it with a key from her dangling keychain. The four friends filed into the back half of the police station, which was split in half horizontally by a row of iron bars. two police officers stood at the door to the cell that occupied half of the back room's space, while Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor sat quietly together on one of the three benches that were the only furniture in the free half of the room. The sight of them resurfaced the question of how they managed to get inside in the first place as well, but it was the occupant of the cell that completely captured Serena and the other's attention. A boy with green hair rushed up to the bars at the sight of the four. "Hey, Ash! Serena! Bonnie! Clemont! You have to get me out of here! They think I assaulted the champion!" he exclaimed.

Ash started at the sight of the familiar face. When he found his voice, it was laced with the same disbelief gripping Serena. "Sawyer?! is that you!?"


	4. Chapter 4: The Queen of Hearts

Intelligence, passion for pokémon and devotion to surpass a rival were to be respected, or at least in Serena's opinion they were. Seeing such an ideal subject for said qualities obscured by metal poles running from the ceiling to the ground was like finding a field of flowers in the middle of a dump. "Ash? Don't tell me you believe them?!" Sawyer exclaimed, slightly hysterical at the silence his friends had greeted him with.

Ash shook himself and stepped forward. "Sawyer... I'm sorry, I just didn't expect to see you... there. Why did they arrest you? You didn't do anything wrong," the boy wondered aloud, prompting a scoff from Tierno.

"As usual, you're wrong, Ash. Trevor here has concrete evidence that this person here attacked the champion. He has no argument," he stated proudly.

Serena took a pace towards her three friends on the bench. "Are you three seriously trying to blame this on a fellow trainer, of all people? Sawyer is a nice guy. Shauna, don't tell me you're buying that one of my friends is responsible for what happened to Diantha?" Serena asked, turning to her closest friend of the group.

Shauna sighed and met Serena's accusatory glare, regret brimming in her eyes. "I didn't want to get him in trouble, Serena, and I didn't know you and the others knew him. Trevor has his proof, though. There's no denying that Sawyer at least has some connection to the crime," she insisted slowly, as if trying to convince herself more than her friend.

Bonnie whispered something to Clemont, the latter nodding and apparently releasing the girl to speak to Sawyer in a hushed tone between the cell bars. One of the policemen was trying really hard to make it impossible to tell that he was listening intently to the prisoner's conversation and failing. Clemont himself paced over to the second empty bench and took a seat, facing Trevor directly. "Alright, Trevor. Shauna and Tierno seem confident. Why don't you persuade us of Sawyer's guilt with your 'evidence'?" he challenged, his glasses gleaming.

Trevor didn't back down, his generally reticent, shy personality shed, much in the way he acted when he had a new picture of a rare pokémon to display. In fact, he did just that, dramatically producing a photo from his pocket to show to Clemont. "I believe this will speak for itself, friend," Trevor said with a hint of boisterous confidence overlaying his cool voice.

Clemont carefully scrutinized the photo until he came across some apparent object of interest that caused him to gasp. Ash and Serena quickly rushed behind Clemont to see what had dismayed their friend. The dazzling grin of victory smeared over Tierno's face provided a somber backdrop for the image of Sawyer running away from a police man in blue. Serena examined the photograph and found herself gasping in tandem with Ash. The inventor turned slowly to his sister, still whispering to Sawyer. "Bonnie, anything you'd like to share with us?" he inquired as casually as the situation could allow.

Bonnie shot on last forlorn look towards the prisoner before meeting her brother's question. "No, Sawyer wouldn't tell me," she responded with a bit of a pout.

Tierno smiled obnoxiously. "That's probably because he doesn't want to admit that he's guilty! I'm thinking you need to rethink your choice in friends, Ash." the trainer advised, wagging his finger in a demeaning manner.

Shauna found something incredibly interesting on the floor to stare at while Sawyer actually spoke up before Ash could retort to the insult. "I've told you already! I just got into town last evening! I wasn't around for any sort of attack that could have happened against the champion, alright? It's not possible," he insisted with all the argumentative power of a five year old.

Trevor rose and held out three fingers. "Then A: why did you run from the police, B: why aren't you telling us what you were doing that night specifically, and C: how did you know about the attack before the police informed you of it?" he asked, firing convincing arguments and compelling points in tandem.

Serena shifted her gaze to Sawyer, who had lowered his head, apparently unable or unwilling to answer any of the questions being asked of him. It shocked Serena that the boy wasn't even willing to defend himself from such simple accusations that any innocent person could explain away with enough memory. Clemont pulled out a small device and began fiddling with it, leaving Serena to end the silence Trevor's ultimatum had dropped upon the room. She really wanted to wipe the rude, cocky grin off of Tierno's face in any case. "It doesn't matter what the evidence says. I refuse to accept that Sawyer would do something wrong. He was either set up, or there's something else going on that Sawyer can't tell us about. Am I wrong, Sawyer?" she questioned.

Sawyer quickly shook his head and removed himself from his funk. "Yes, that is correct, Serena. Thank you. I appreciate the support," he thanked gratefully.

Tierno rolled his eyes. "Serena, come on. This guy is clearly as bad as Ash at least. Just accept that this dude danced the wrong dance in the wrong place, and that he's guilty," Tierno insisted.

Serena fumed, but Ash spoke up first. "Leave Serena out of this, Tierno. This is about Sawyer, and I'm not going to let you make fun of her trust in somebody, so either help Clemont and I figure out where to go from here, or be quiet," Ash stated with unusually quiet authority.

Tierno looked between the four people in front of him and shrugged, realizing he was outnumbered. "Whatever you say, man. I'm just keeping it real, and reality says that guy did the crime," he explained clearly, pointing to Sawyer, before pausing to consider something else. "It also says Clemont isn't really doing anything helpful at the moment," he added.

Clemont glanced up briefly at the sound of his name. "Give me a moment, Tierno. I knew we would encounter a situation just like this, but my machine for it isn't perfect yet. Bonnie, take over for me," he commanded.

Bonnie beamed and paced up to Trevor. "Trevor... when did you take that photo, and when was the crime committed?" she asked politely.

Trevor placed a hand on his chin and pondered the question. "Hmm... I believe that the picture was taken around roughly one or so in the morning. Jenny wouldn't tell us precisely when the crime was committed, but I snuck a peek at her report while she was getting Shauna's autograph. It said that the crime took place around 12:45 AM. Why?" he queried.

Serena tried to do the math in her head, remembering when she woke up last night, but Clemont finished before her. "If that's true, then it's possible that the person who attacked Diantha could also have been the owner of the mega blazekin that stole Serena's bag and pokémon and Ash's Pikachu. The assault on us took place around 2:30 in the morning. Of course, if this is all true..." Clemont began, before Tierno shot out of his seat to interrupt.

"Whoa, hold the phone! Someone stole your stuff, Serena?! Why didn't you say so?! You, green hair! What did you do with Serena's stuff, you cad!?" Tierno accused, storming up to the bars and causing Sawyer to shrink back in trepidation despite his safety behind the iron.

Sawyer tried to speak up to explain himself, but Bonnie reassumed her role as chief investigator bestowed upon her by her brother. "Hold on. If you took this picture around one in the morning, and Sawyer was arrested shortly afterwards, then there's no way that he attacked us with that pokémon! He was in prison!" she exclaimed, proud of her sleuthing.

Trevor shook his head. "I'm sorry that the four of you were targeted by a robbery, and I agree that Sawyer, unless he somehow knew where you were going to be, couldn't have sent that mega blazekin after you. However, that doesn't clear his name of attacking the champion. He may not have robbed you, but he did critically injure the most powerful trainer in the region. The camera doesn't lie," the photographer stated plainly.

Tierno mumbled a half-hearted apology to Sawyer for rushing at him while Shauna rose and placed a hand of comfort on Serena's shoulder. Sylveon noticed this, but seemed to accept Shauna as a friend. "Serena, I'm sorry that your items and pokémon were taken. As soon as we're done here, I promise the three of us can help catch this criminal, too," she said, trying to soothe the performer.

For some reason, Serena could feel her fists clenching. She wasn't a fan of being patronized by her friends of all people like she and her group had no idea what they were talking about. It was almost as bad as when Bonnie teased her about her relationship problems. She shot a glance to Ash, who had moved to her side and had a similar fire in his eyes, although for once he appeared to have it quelled and completely under his control. He gave Serena an almost imperceptible nod in agreement to the question her passionate gaze had postulated before turning to Trevor again. "Trevor, I didn't want to say it, but the only thing your picture shows is a scared trainer getting chased by the police for no reason. You haven't shown me anything that completely and clearly proves that he did something wrong other than run away from someone chasing him in the dark," Ash challenged.

Shauna removed her hand from Serena and looked at Ash oddly for his insolence towards Trevor's argument. Trevor himself sighed. "This picture is what identified Sawyer here so the police could find him. He wouldn't run if he wasn't guilty. That's all there is to it," he reiterated, not backing down.

Tierno finally abandoned his attempts to reach Sawyer through the cell bars and sauntered right up to Ash. "Yeah. Why are you suddenly playing devil's advocate, Ash? Something you're not telling us?" he wondered aloud.

Ash let go of any control he had on his emotions. "What was that!? Just because I think my friend is innocent-" he began to rant before the door was flung open to allow officer Jenny to barge into the room.

The police officers guarding the door immediately snapped to attention as Jenny surveyed the scene in front of her, the seven friends standing like statues around the room sans Clemont, still fiddling with his technology on a bench. She sighed. "I'm only going to say this once. An investigator found a suspicious man on the outskirts of town, and I need one of my men here to go check it out. I need at least one or two of you to tag along in case you can identify him as a user of the blazekin that attacked you. We have our suspect, but there's no reason not to be overtly cautious until the champion can wake up and tell us herself," she briefed.

The guard standing at the left of the cell door reacted at his summons, moving to the door and waiting for his company. Tierno immediately sat down. "You all go on ahead. I'm not letting this criminal out of my sight," he spoke icily.

Ash looked very ready to finish his rant, but Serena caught his eye and she shook her head at him, causing Ash to simmer down ever so slightly enough to hold back his fury. Trevor, Clemont, and an unwilling Bonnie also volunteered to stay, Trevor to keep Tierno from doing something stupid, Clemont to continue working on his little machine, and Bonnie because Clemont wasn't willing to let his sister out of his sight. That being decided, officer Jenny pointed Ash, Serena, Shauna, and the left cop in the direction of the domestic disturbance. As they left the police station, Serena realized that Calem had left his post at the front of the building. Unsurprised, the group made their way towards Cinder Town's outskirts. The two guys walked in the front while Serena, Sylveon and Shauna brought up the rear, giving Serena a chance bring up a question that she had meant to ask earlier. "Shauna... what were you, Tierno and Trevor doing out so late? I thought you were all going to bed after we talked to you last night," she said, recalling the brief conversation they had when Serena had awoken to find her business card absent.

Shauna started a bit and nervously looked away. "Oh... well, um, I went outside to tell the guys we were going to sleep, and then I thought I saw Calem in the distance... so I chased him... for an hour... and it wasn't Calem..." she spoke slowly, her dying voice eventually petering out as Serena put the pieces together.

"Oh... so you were the reason Trevor was able to get the photo," Serena reasoned, almost to herself.

Shauna hung her head as they continued walking. "Trevor was so happy that he helped catch a criminal. Tierno was just glad that he did something Ash hasn't done. He's been really obsessed about beating Ash recently. I think the upcoming league is getting to him. And, well, I just felt silly for thinking that Sawyer was Calem. I'm... sorry I got one of your friends in trouble." she apologized glumly.

Serena sighed to herself. "It's not your fault. They probably would have found Sawyer without the photo. Don't tell Trevor I said that. We need to focus on finding the real culprit," she explained.

Shauna still looked forlorn, so Sylveon took it upon itself to wrap a feeler comfortingly around its trainer's friend. "Sylveon. Syl!" it spoke reassuringly.

A small smile blossomed on Shauna's countenance. Serena herself was proud of the initiative her pokémon was taking, so unusual for the generally shy fairy type. "Thanks, Sylveon. Serena is lucky to have you," Shauna said, her mind clearly elsewhere.

Serena allowed her pokémon to hold onto her friend as they continued their trek to the site of the stranger's location. Ash was talking quietly with the police officer, who actually seemed to be involved in what the boy had to say. _He does have that effect on people. If not on everyone, then definitely on me..._ she trailed off so deeply into her own thoughts on Ash that she almost ran into him when he stopped walking. Three police officers were standing a couple feet in front of the group, one of them turning to greet the posse as they approached. Serena stepped around the officers briefing each other on the situation to see the person crazy enough to stick around while police surrounded him yet not get arrested. Things became slightly more clear as she recognized the tall man she had met in the woods yesterday. He leaned against an oak tree, relishing the shade with a relaxed posture that didn't suit the clear pain on his face. She switched her gaze back to her friends to realize that they all stood in awe of the massive man. She looked between the police, talking about how if Jenny would stop moping about her lost pokémon and get in field more she could deal with this, and realized that she was the only one with any wherewithal to take action in this situation. She signaled to Sylveon and stepped forward, only for Ash to suddenly grab her arm. "Serena, what are you doing? That guy could be dangerous," Ash whispered urgently, Shauna and even a police officer nodding behind him.

Serena gave Ash a confident smile to bolster her own nerve. "Then you should be ready to help me out if things go south, Ash," she instructed as she gently released herself from her crush's grip and continued to step forward towards the man who had spooked her not twenty-four hours ago.

Ash badly looked like he wanted to follow, but instead readied a poké ball, convincing the other officers to take notice of the new arrival's brash action and ready their own partners. When Serena came within a few feet of the man, he opened his eyes and cast them down upon the performer. It was very difficult to tell, but it appeared to Serena as if the man's frown deepened as he examined her up and down, particularly the wrappings around her hands. "I believe I warned you not to stay here, did I not?" he rumbled in the same baritone voice.

Serena removed her hands from the man's massive range of view and tried to look like she knew what she was doing. "You told me that, yes. You also nearly scared me to death in the woods and now you're putting the police around here on edge. What are you doing here, trying to intimidate people?" Serena asserted with forged willpower.

The man actually kneeled down, making himself only a bit taller than Serena. He held a massive hand out, causing everyone watching the proceedings to draw in a collective breath and grip their weapons more tightly. Sylveon, however, immediately left the side of Serena, pacing over without a second thought towards the man and allowing him to stroke its fur and feelers gently. "Any fear I exude is a product of the stereotypes the public would charge me with. Your pokémon doesn't carry the same bias our species so desperately clings to. I applaud the pokémon for this purity of thought. It reminds me why I shouldn't be involved in these affairs..." he spoke, eventually breaking off his own thought.

Shaking off the surprise that Sylveon was perfectly fine around this stranger, Serena decided to refocus the man. "You didn't answer me, sir. What are you doing here?" she asked again.

The giant paused. "I suppose I'm here because of the last step I took," he answered.

Serena wanted to slap a palm to her face, but somehow she thought her pained hands wouldn't like that. Instead, she decided to attack a different angle. "Alright then. Can you answer me this honestly, at least? Did you see or speak to a boy with green hair named Sawyer last night? Please, it might help in getting my pokémon and my friend's pikachu back," she pleaded a bit desperately.

Another pause. "Yes. I saw him last night," came the response Serena was hoping for.

"Really? What was he doing?" Serena pushed, a bit excitedly. _If this guy didn't do the crime, maybe he can at least get Sawyer off the hook..._

"I believe you mentioned something about me overstaying my welcome here. I will gladly indulge your concern at this time," the man suddenly spoke, rising up to his terrifying full height and turning away to leave, drawing out a disappointed sigh from Sylveon as its petting session ended abruptly.

Serena was shocked. She was so close to making progress in helping her friend, only for this man to clam up for no reason. Sylveon wasn't being very helpful, waving away the man like he was an old friend of it, merely taking a train to another city for the day. Ash realized Serena was being ignored and began to make his way towards his friend, only for both him and the man to stop as another figure, emanating authority, emerged out of the woods and onto the middle of the path leading into town, interrupting the proceedings and startling all the spectators, particularly Shauna. "Hey, AZ. Is this entrance cool? I can't appear out of nowhere like you, but this has to be like some sort of classic western movie shot, right?" spoke Calem, holding his fedora like a cowboy hat and strutting around with invisible spurs.

The man's face somehow hardened, and he moved into the center of the road to stare down the guy who defeated the champion. Serena couldn't help but look at it like a real wild west showdown, which was clearly what Calem was going for. "Calem. This is not coincidence. Why here?" he asked with little emotion, not even curiosity.

Calem shrugged. "As I'm sure you 'predicted', there's not a lot of festiveness happening at the Suicune festival, or at least there wouldn't be if people knew what was really going on. All I'm asking for is the favor you owe me. Stick around for a while, breathe in that crisp Cinder Town air, buy yourself some cotton candy. Deal?" Calem offered, sticking out a hand innocuously.

The man Calem dubbed AZ stared at the appendage in front of him. "I don't enjoy getting involved, Calem. You must be aware of the consequences-" he started.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're a hermit, I get it. AZ, my friend, let me put it to you this way. Something potentially life-threatening has stricken the Champion. If you're going to get involved in something, then why not make sure it's important?" Calem interrupted, positing his counter-argument in prediction of AZ's concerns.

AZ sighed, and his frown deepened. "Là où Dieu a une église, le diable aura sa chapelle. I will remain in the area, Calem." AZ spoke in a flowing, natural tongue that contrasted sharply with his gravelly normal voice.

 _Those words..._ Serena's mind resonated with their tone, but their meaning was lost on her. Ash reached Serena and tapped her shoulder to get her attention. The performer barely acknowledged her crush. "Hmm?" she muttered, not even turning to acknowledge the touch.

Ash noticed the ignorance he was getting, but pressed forwards anyways. "Serena... do you know him? what was he saying? " Ash asked quietly, so as not to be heard by the two men on the road.

The sound of Ash's voice drew Serena from her trance-like state. "Oh, sorry, Ash. I ran into that man in the woods yesterday. He was... interesting. I don't know what he just said, or how Calem knows him, or where Calem came from, for that matter," she admitted, the list of things she actually didn't understand being voiced making her realize how frustratingly complicated her situation was.

Ash nodded. "I see. So can we trust this guy? He didn't act very threatening," he continued.

Serena shrugged. "If Calem thinks he's worth keeping around, he can't be that bad," she reasoned.

As they conversed, a frown began to scar Calem's face as AZ hadn't moved to shake his hand despite the tall mystery's consent to the trainer's apparent bargain. "You haven't forgotten how to seal a deal, have you, friend?" he questioned with a small amount of irritation.

AZ shook his head. "I stay not in honor of our bargain. Your favor may wait. I will not leave town until the festival has concluded, not while It is nearby," he rumbled ominously.

Calem retracted his hand with a shrug. "Whatever, as long as you're not bringing everyone down with your doom and gloom. My friends like being happy, fair warning. HEY, donut-loving people! This man is with me! Go back to investigating the crime and stuff!" he yelled at the police, who exchanged looks before accepting the trainer's words without complaint and moving away to their own devices, somewhat to Serena's suprise.

Shauna joined Ash and Serena as the police dispersed. "Soooo, I'm not the only confused one here, right? Please say yes," she begged.

Serena nodded in agreement. "I don't know what's going on, but I guess AZ is going to stay in town for now," she reasoned.

Ash, deciding that he had enough contemplation, went to the source. "Alright, Calem. How do you know this AZ guy, where did you come from, and AZ, if that is your name, do you know anything about what happened to the champion or the mega blazekin that attacked us?" he interrogated.

Calem spoke up first. "Well, when I heard through the servine that someone big and surly was hanging around the edge of town, I figured it was my buddy here and I decided to pay him a visit, but I got lost along the way and showed up after you did. Since you're wondering, yes, I met him once before out in the wilderness and no, I'm not going to tell you about it, because that memory is special to me and I would only tell someone I trust completely, like that cotton candy vendor. Maybe when we're done here, I'll tell you too," he added as a bit of an afterthought.

AZ realized that four pairs of questioning eyes were now trained on him and he breathed a heavy sigh once again. "Regarding the champion's attack and this... mega blazekin, I have nothing I wish to say on the matter. You will have to continue your search elsewhere," he stated firmly.

Shauna, of all people, objected to this. "But you said that you saw Sawyer last night! Why can't you tell us what he was doing? And Calem, when are you going to stop hiding things from me?! I thought you said you would need my help today!" she accused with indignation.

Calem flashed a broad grin while AZ refused to meet the performer's gaze. "I do. Why don't we walk to the police station and discuss that, Sunshine? Life's sweeter when shared, after all, and I know a cotton candy vendor nearby," he persuaded soothingly.

Shauna huffed and tried to act like she wasn't getting exactly what she wanted as she allowed Calem to lead her away, leaving Ash and Serena standing alone on the edge of town with a goliath. AZ scrutinized the two with piercing eyes. "...Unfortunate," he finally spoke.

"What is?" asked both Ash and Serena at the same time, unsure of how to advance with the man they barely knew and only had Calem's word that he wasn't hostile.

"I believe it was Serena? It is unfortunate that you failed to heed me," he said simply before beginning to lumber off after Calem and Shauna.

Ash turned to Serena. "Did he really tell you to leave yesterday?" the boy asked.

Serena nodded her head in affirmation. "Well, yes, but I thought nothing of it at the time. I'm still not sure if I do. He's definitely hiding something though. We have to keep an eye on him," she decided firmly.

As Serena herself began to take off after what had become a linear procession of people proceeding from the town entrance, Ash moved himself between Serena and her destination. "Are _you_ telling me everything, Serena? It's not that I don't trust you, but, even though you're stressed, well, um, it just feels like lately, you've been, well..." Ash seemed to lose himself in his own accusation, giving Serena the chance she needed to react after her blood had run cold from the build up that had terrified her ever since it had become a possibility in her mind.

"Ash, whatever you're about to finish that sentence with, I promise you I can answer honestly. Can it wait until we find our pokémon and help the champion first?" Serena asked, practically begging her crush for more time to formulate a response.

Ash paused for a lifetime before responding. "Yeah, it can. Sorry, I guess not having Pikachu around for this long is messing with my head. Let's rejoin the others," he decided.

Serena said nothing, choosing instead to signal to her Sylveon that they were making an exit and doing so with her crush. She had to fight for it, but eventually her already frayed nerves were coaxed back down to a feasible state of serenity. The pokémon paced on her right while Ash occupied her left, an uncomfortable taciturnity absorbing the air around the three. Ash eventually probed into the awkward air. "So, Serena, how are your hands feeling?" he asked.

Serena looked at her hands. _How are they faring?_ She wondered. The injuries seemed so insignificant compared to everything else going on. A glance at the bandages told her nothing, and the hands themselves felt almost eerily numb. "Let me check," she muttered, almost to herself, and she began to undo her medical aid as Ash tried to warn her against such action. One covered palm took hold of the bandage on her left hand and slowly unraveled a bit of it, revealing a part of her hand that was still very red and very irritated that something had disturbed it. She quickly pushed the wrapping down again, but the small removal had loosened whatever holding mechanism Clemont had fastened upon the wrappings, and she was forced to hold her hand tightly in order to keep the gauze from completely unraveling. A small yelp of pain escaped her mouth, and Ash quickly took hold of the bandage she was trying to fasten and held it in place gingerly with his own hand, allowing Serena to relinquish the use of her right hand and extinguish the stabs of pain plaguing her. "I believe that the cuts aren't quite healed yet," she spoke, stating the blatantly obvious.

Ash chuckled a bit to himself. "No, doesn't look like it. Don't worry, Serena, you'll be fine in no time. I'll hold the bandage on for you until Clemont can fix it. Is that alright?" he asked.

Serena realized that, as it stood, Ash would basically be holding her hand for the rest of their journey to the station, and she immediately acquiesced with a blush. _A little pain is an insignificant price to pay for this._ She convinced herself. Sylveon looked a bit hurt that it hadn't been put on protector duty, so Serena allowed it to take hold of her other injury. Little was said, but Serena couldn't have gone from anxious depression to euphoria any more rapidly. Throwing away context, there was no reason for her not to be ecstatic. One of her greatest fantasies had suddenly become real out of nowhere. Serena allowed the pleasure to wash over her for a moment, her crush on one side, one of her trusted partners on the other, and let things be okay for a minute. This moment ended when the three entered the police station. Everyone sans Sawyer was in the lobby, AZ, Shauna and Calem included. Serena drew more than a few stares for her current contact with Ash, wiping the troubled expression from Shauna's face, drawing indignation out of Tierno, and causing Bonnie to start to exclaim something that was bound to be embarrassing, had Clemont not held the girl back. She blushed heavily and yanked her hand away from Ash, causing the already loose bandage to hang limply from her palm. Serena opened her mouth to conjure up the reason she swore she had for holding her crush's hand like she was, only for diction to fail her at the most inopportune time. Ash realized that an awkward silence had accompanied his entrance into the police station and took responsibility for exterminating it. "Well... we're back. Clemont, can you fix Serena's bandages? They came loose," he requested, failing to explain how such medical aid had been undone.

While the words seemed to placate the unease surrounding Shauna, Calem, Trevor, and even AZ to some degree, Clemont remained on edge to guard his little sister from blowing open his friend's secret, while Tierno refused to drop his cold stare at the two for the entire process of Serena getting her bandages resealed, along with a warning to be more careful. As this was done, Jenny, uncaring to the proceedings, reassumed control of the room. "Right, everyone is here now, so I can make this clear. We're skipping introductions, AZ, since you made yourself acquainted while the others returned. Calem, you went against my orders and followed this man. The only reason I haven't run you out of town is because he has information vital to the investigation. As for the rest of you: it is all the more imperative that news of Diantha's condition does not leave this room. Our region does not need to have a crisis on its hands because we can't find a perpetrator, particularly if it doesn't happen to be our suspect," she explained callously.

One by one, everyone, even AZ, swore themselves to silence regarding Diantha's health. Jenny appeared satisfied. "Excellent. Now, Mr., uh, AZ I suppose. Would you kindly help us with a few questions we have for you regarding the case? You aren't in trouble, if that's a concern for you," she added.

AZ nodded. "I have agreed to this, yes," he responded bluntly.

Jenny rose. "Alright, then you can follow-" she began before the doors to the police station burst open.

"Officer, Officer! You have to help us! We've been attacked by a monster!" called out one female voice, obscured by the sudden stream of sunlight flooding the room.

"Yeah, and it took Meowth, too, the low down scoundrel!" a second male voice chipped in, giving Serena a suddenly very clear picture of who they were dealing with.

Ash recognized the people as well, and called them out. "Team Rocket?! What are you doing here?" he shouted angrily.

Jessie started at the sight of so many of her enemies in one place. "Gah! Twerps! You would be hanging out in a goody goody establishment, wouldn't you?!" she accused, her hand falling to her pocket to withdraw a poké ball.

James reacted to his partner immediately, grabbing her arm. "Jessie, wait! We won't get the help of the law if we're fighting it!" the blue-haired man insisted.

Officer Jenny rose as Jessie growled at James before lowering her arm. "Hold on a second. Who are you people, and what gives you the right to just barge in here screaming?" she interrogated.

The duo took this cue and launched into their redundant theme song. "Prepare for-" Jessie began before being hit in the face by a stream of water.

Tierno stood in front of the group next to his blastoise, the final evolved form of squirtle cocking its water cannon at the crime duo. "That's enough. We're in the middle of something. Officer, these two are part of a band of criminals who steal people's pokémon. They don't deserve help, or whatever it is they want from you," the boy persuaded.

As Jessie screamed bloody murder at Tierno for ruining her hair while James held his partner back, Serena couldn't help but agree with Tierno. Missing Meowth or not, these two had caused herself and Ash no end of headaches on their travels. Kicking them out during such a crucial investigation sounded like a brilliant idea. She turned to Ash to voice this agreement, only to see him step forward, between Tierno and Team Rocket.

"Hold on. At least hear them out. If their meowth really disappeared, they might know something about the mega blazekin." Ash reasoned, actually vouching for his enemies.

Jenny focused her eyes on Ash, away from the stumped disbelief on everyone sans Calem's and AZ's expressions. "Our region is well aware of the crimes of Team Rocket. Even if they are telling the truth, Ash, I can't very well take their case if they're actually criminals. It would go against everything I-" she began before James stepped forward with some gusto.

"You were about to say you can't help us because we're criminals, right? Well, that may or may not be so, but we've never actually stolen a Kalosean pokémon! According to the law, that means we're as innocent as anybody, right?" he speculated.

The officer paused. She pulled out a small handbook and leafed through it for a moment. She closed her guide and faced the room. "Can any one of you prove to me that these two have done anything illegal using anything other than your word?" she finally asked.

Glances were exchanged around the room. Sad as it was considering the grief that she had been through, Serena couldn't think of a single thing she could display to prove the guilt of her crushes greatest nuisances. She wasn't sure if she felt relieved that the trio had never done anything permanently harming, felt sad that she couldn't get them arrested because of the fact, or pitied the group in front of her that had failed so many times at doing one thing. Shauna spoke up. "They're members of Team Rocket, though! You know, the EVIL crime syndicate?! Doesn't that count for something?" she pointed out exasperatedly.

Jenny sighed. "No, actually, it doesn't. It's not a crime to be affiliated with a group if we can't prove they've done anything to benefit that group. So, proof? Anyone?" she offered, holding her hands out as if to receive a present.

Nobody moved. Jenny slowly lowered her hands. "Alright then. You two. Make this quick. I have things to do," she spoke.

Jessie and Jame's eyes shone. "Is this what it feels like to have the system work for you? Jessie, this is incredible!" James spoke excitedly.

"We'll get Meowth back in no time! Then we can get back to st- I mean absolutely nothing!" Jessie spoke, almost letting all the proof Jenny needed slip out of her mouth.

Jenny rolled her eyes, ignoring Tierno's gestures that said all manner of obscenities towards Jessie and James. "Get on with it, you two, or I'll kick you out myself," she said.

The duo composed themselves and began to launch into their story. "Well, it's quite simple. We were sleeping out in the woods, camping, and then, out of nowhere, this massive monster sprung out of the woods and attacked us!" started James.

"Yeah, then it took Meowth before we could even do a thing about it! We have to have our precious little Meowth back! Meowth is the only thing that makes any part of our routine bearable!" Jessie stated dramatically, emphasizing every use of meowth.

Jenny frowned. "First of all: monsters aren't a thing. If it was a pokémon, you're going to have to be more specific. Second: if this thing attacked you, where are your injuries? I'd be shocked if it managed to steal one of your pokémon without anyone getting hurt. Third: No offense, but why would anything want to take a meowth? They aren't exactly uncommon," she prattled off.

Jessie stood up to the woman. "Well, nosy, firstly, yes they are, because we saw one! It was large, with flaming hands, powerful legs, incredible speed, and a pink bag and a yellow bag. We didn't get hurt because meowth wasn't in a poké ball at the time. It had no reason to attack us because we were too stunned to react. Finally, our meowth speaks fluent person, so there! Now, are you going to help us, or are you going to keep questioning the victims!?" she vehemently shouted.

Jenny stared into the seething woman's eyes. Calem coughed. A endless minute passed before James started to move forward to make his attempt to diffuse the situation, but the officer held up a hand to halt him. She paced forward, right into the pink-haired criminal's face. "Do you really think you can just waltz in here, demand my assistance as a criminal, and then yell into my face with the expectation that I won't mind?" she asked with eerie calm.

Jessie, true to her nature, didn't back down. "Yes. I do. You have no idea how it feels to have one of your pokémon stolen from you, but if you did, you wouldn't be any different from me," she hissed.

At that, Ash, Serena, Clemont, and Bonnie all began to speak up at once about the obvious hypocrisy in Jessie's statement, but Jenny silenced all of them with another wave of her hand. A small, genuine smile played onto Jenny's lips for the first time since Serena had met the woman. She turned towards her desk and retrieved the same booklet that Serena had signed not too long ago. She flipped through the pages until she finally rested on one that Serena couldn't see. She showed the page to Jessie. "You recognize this, don't you?" she asked.

Jessie allowed some of the fire burning within her to fade into befuddlement. "...no. Why would I bother myself with such stupid dress up contests?" she said.

Jenny shook her head. "I had my suspicions, but I know I'm right now. You're Jessilee, aren't you?" she accused.

Both Jessie and James froze. Everyone but Shauna and Serena looked a bit puzzled, not recognizing thee name. Serena finally interrupted the conversation. "Jessie, is that... true?" she stuttered awkwardly.

Jessie refused to meet any gaze in the room. "All of you... shut up. You're all twerps. All of you," she muttered, any venom in her voice cured by the antidote of truth.

Jenny returned her autograph book and procured another piece of paper and gave it to Jessie. "Here. It's an official report on the investigation. You have my word that we will find your meowth. I believe that the monster you described was the same one that attacked Ash and the others the same night, which is enough to allow you into the investigation according to me," she stated simply.

Jessie looked up, and a single tear was running down her face. Before she could say anything, Clemont, practically throwing the invention he was working on to the ground, surged forward to glance over the paper Jenny had just handed over. "While I agree with you, officer, this investigation does in fact contain, well, important information that you just had us swear to never disclose, and with all due respect, these are-" he spoke before the paper was slammed into his face by Jessie herself.

"Yeah yeah, science twerp, I get it, you don't trust us. You don't have to. This time, we aren't in it to steal. We want our partner back, right James?" Jessie spoke determinedly.

James stared a bit wistfully at the paper before nodding in agreement with Jessie. "Yeah! Meowth is our chum, and you never leave a friend behind!" he stated proudly.

Ash grinned. "That's the spirit guys!" he agreed, as Clemont pulled the paper off of his face with a smirk and placed it in his own pocket before retreating to his machine.

Jessie whipped around. "If you think even for a second that we aren't going to steal Pikachu when this is all over, you're sorely mistaken, twerp," she spoke, some of the old fire returning to her voice.

Officer Jenny sighed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Jessilee, you and blue hair do need to agree to operate under legal means while you remain in town. In addition to that, any evidence you find needs to be brought to me. If not, then I will run you out of town myself. Clear?" she inquired.

Both Jessie and James composed themselves and saluted in over-exaggerated respect. "Yes Ma'am!" they both exclaimed, and were rewarded for their promise with another blast of water from blastoise.

The offending pokémon's trainer spoke up before Jessie could explode again. "Hold on. It's bad enough we're letting them stick around to 'help'. We already have our perpetrator. Trevor has his-" he started before Calem put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"T-man, I think you can agree that the situation is for more complicated than we anticipated. Investigation takes time, and we can't assume the first guy we see is guilty. Right, officer?" he spoke, turning to stare at her.  
Officer Jenny seemed a bit shocked that Calem had said something that Serena at least considered to be intelligent. "Um... yeah. Tierno, stop shooting them with blastoise, or I'll arrest you for harassment." the cop paused for a moment. "Actually, all of you except AZ and blue hair, get out. I need to interrogate AZ and get an official statement on this meowth's disappearance, and none of you are doing anything but yelling sitting in here, so get out there and do some investigating. If you need something, go see nurse Joy and let her know you're with me. I've had enough chaos in this station for one day," she spoke, shooing everyone out forcefully.

Several people, most vocally Jessie attempted to protest, but a deadly glare and a claim that she was too emotional to testify accurately from the officer convinced everyone but Calem to rush out of the building, the older trainer lagging behind long enough to whisper something unintelligible to AZ.

As everyone congregated on the steps leading to the station, Trevor spoke everyone's mind. "That was unexpected," he said.

Tierno frowned as he returned his blastoise. "More importantly, it got us nowhere. All we know now is that the mega blazekin probably stole a meowth and that nothing has disproven Sawyer's guilt yet. That being said, what's the point of being out here?" he asked aloud.

Clemont stepped forward, having salvaged his work inside the station. "There's always an alternative hypothesis, Tierno. No puzzle has one solution. Here's the plan. I've been working on an invention to determine the exact kind of poison that was used on Diantha. I'm going to go to the pokémon center to test it. The rest of you should investigate the town for suspicious activity. It could take a while for me to get a readable sample," he spoke with the confidence of science.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "I'll go with you to stop you from blowing up the champion then, brother," she stated, causing some of the wind to leave Clemont's sails.

Shauna nodded her agreement. "Sounds good, Clemont. The rest of us should split up into two groups to cover more ground. I'll go with Calem," she claimed before anyone else could speak.

"I'll go with Serena," spoke both Ash and Tierno at the same time, causing the two boys to stare at each other awkwardly.

Serena's face was flushed crimson as everyone looked to her for a reaction. Jessie, having been somewhat aloof to the proceedings, suddenly took interest as her ears picked up romantic drama. "Well, you can both go with Serena! I'll go too! Camera twerp can travel with the other group! It's almost like it's meant to be..." she trailed off dreamily, making everyone feel even more uncomfortable than they already were.

Nobody wanted to follow up Jessie's ludicrous rambling, much less agree with it. Tierno, Shauna and Clemont were clearly still wary of the thief's antics. Trevor eventually got sick of the silence. "Sounds fantastic, Jessie. We'll meet back here around lunchtime, in a few hours. Let's get a move on," he spoke, lifting a weight off the group.

Calem grinned at the proceedings and used Trevor's statement as a chance to start to wander off, forcing those in his group to follow him. Clemont warily watched Jessie as his sister began to drag him off towards the pokémon center and Diantha, leaving Serena alone with her enemy/rival and two trainers that were shooting angry glances at each other like water shurikens from a greninja.

Jessie refused to remove the stupid grin from her face. In spite of being separated from both of her partners, she had something interesting to play with that of course had to be Serena's romantic troubles. "So, why don't we visit the crime scene? There just has to be some juicy evidence there, right twerps and twerpette?" she asked.

Tierno immediately shook his head. "The police won't let us anywhere near that site. We might be helping, but we wouldn't get in there without a very good reason. Trust me, we've tried. All we can really do is wander around and hope the criminal, making the big assumption that is isn't Sawyer, is dumb enough to reveal himself," he griped.

Ash heaved a sigh. "You're saying there's nothing more useful for us to do? We won't get anywhere at this point!" he whined.

Serena shook her head. "Ash, we are doing something. We're waiting for Clemont to finish using his invention so that we have a lead on where the poison came from. Until then, we're going to have to be patient. Alright?" she asked, smiling a bit to hide the butterfrees parading around her stomach.

As Ash nodded silently in agreement, Tierno wheeled on his rival. "Yeah, Ash, don't be so down. Why can't you be optimistic that we'll do something useful with these hours?" he mocked

Serena stepped between the two. "That's enough, Tierno. You started it. We're going to the center of town now," she stated firmly, taking the point position and ignoring the grin plastered on Jessie's face.

 _She's enjoying this too much. I wish she would focus so that I could actually ask her about being Jessilee..._ Serena mused to herself as they walked towards the bridge in the center of town. She still didn't feel like she actually heard Jenny correctly when she claimed that the criminal was actually a performer who had competed in the master class, but, in hindsight, she supposed it made sense, especially considering the pokémon the woman used. What she really wanted to know was what made Jessie want to perform in the first place. _I hope it's not because of me. Not sure how I would feel about that._ she continued to think.

As they passed through several rows of food stalls, Tierno offered multiple times to buy Serena something, drawing a polite denial from her, a strange glance from Ash, and a sly smirk from Jessie. Every time Tierno got shot down, Sylveon would position itself in a way that forced the boy to distance himself from Sylveon's trainer, inciting Jessie to hold back laughter. While Ash was confused, he never offered any sort of purchase to Serena, a bit to her chagrin, until they finally reached the town square and the bustling noise of the festivities forced them all to take up a position on the edge of the square, as far away as they could feasibly be from the noise. "Serena... do you want to go visit that fortune teller again? I can pay for you if he was charging something, and we aren't going to find anything with all this commotion," he almost yelled, just to be heard.

In the back of her mind, Serena acknowledged that the number of people here had seemingly doubled in size, a strange occurrence considering the champion's exhibition match had already taken place. She shrugged this off while she responded. "I wouldn't want to take that chance, Ash. We should at least look around before we go off chasing fortune tellers," she responded loudly.

Mischief ignited in Tierno's eyes. "Yeah, Ash. Why don't you try focusing on helping us find a criminal instead of messing around with charlatans?" he mocked.

While everyone knew that Tierno was being hypocritical, nobody stepped in to defend Ash, not even Serena, who at this point had almost gotten used to Tierno taking a jab at the boy every chance he got. When he realized that he was unopposed, Tierno decided to press his luck. "In any case, Serena, why don't you explore with me? Ash can hang out with the thief, he'd probably prefer that anyways.," he said.

Any trace amount of reticence in Ash's body to Tierno's insults deserted him in that moment. "What was that!?" the boy yelled, far louder than necessary to be heard.

Tierno shrugged and opened his mouth to blabber annoyances again, but Jessie of all people stepped in. "Alright, you two twerps. You're a team now. Go be a team and work it out somewhere else while the girls handle this. Clearly this is a woman's job, right, twerpette?" She asked, flashing the performer an unnerving smile.

Sylveon tightened its grip on Serena, but the trainer herself found her head nodding without any real input on her part. "Yeah. That sounds good," she said, nearly too quietly to be heard.

Jessie clapped her hands together. "Excellent! You heard her twerps, run along now and let us handle everything!" she claimed excitedly.

Both Ash and Tierno shot Serena forlorn looks, so she attempted to reassure them with a small grin that completely failed to reassure her herself of her impulsive decision. The two boys then listened to Jessie and began to make their way back the way they came, the strappings of an argument already bubbling from their body language. As the two vanished into the crowd, Jessie turned to her younger companion. "Alright. Us. Move. Now." she spoke bluntly, taking off towards a nearby alleyway without waiting for confirmation.

Serena exchanged a look with Sylveon. The pokémon shook its head to indicate its disapproval of their current partner. Serena sighed. "I know, my friend. I've got you to protect me though, and this might be the only way we learn something about the mega blazekin we didn't already know.," she deduced, convincing herself to follow the magenta-haired woman.

Dead. That was the only word suitable to describe the utter lifelessness of the alleyway Jessie had selected. The contrast between the silent, dank alleyway and the raucous town square Serena had just exited disoriented her. The alley was devoid of anything but locked doors and a few trash cans, one of which Jessie had perched herself upon as if it were a stool in a diner. She faced the young performer with an unreadable expression. "Alright, twerpette. I'm going to tell you the truth. Don't get used to it. The, ah, monster we saw... it wasn't mega blazekin," she admitted with a flick of her hair.

Serena's jaw dropped. "You better be lying. If mega blazekin didn't attack you, then where's Meowth? After officer Jenny gave you her trust, you're just going to abuse it? I can't believe you. No, wait, I can. You are the lowest of the low, you know that? We should never have trusted you," Serena ranted, Sylveon aggressively stepping forward, ready to attack.

Jessie grinned at the girl in front of her. "You aren't listening, twerpette. I said it wasn't mega blazekin. I didn't say we weren't attacked, or that meowth wasn't kidnapped. If you had let me finish, I was going to tell you that it was a regular blazekin that attacked us, not a mega blazekin. James and I agreed to describe it as a mega blazekin to sound more believable to you, to make it more likely that you would take us in," she spoke slowly and deliberately, unlike her normal boisterous, overconfident persona.

Serena paused and allowed the information to be processed. When she spoke again, she allowed trace amounts of regret to seep into her speech. "How did you know that a mega blazekin attacked us?" she asked suspiciously.

Jessie shrugged. "We've been staking out the police station since we gave up chasing after the blazekin. You just happened to twerp your way inside and give us a chance with your do-gooderness," she explained.

Serena pondered this before placing a hand on her sylveon to relax it. "Fine. I suppose I can believe that. And I suppose I can understand your reason for hiding the truth. However, I still don't trust you," she said.

Jessie shrugged. "You trusted me enough to follow me down a dark alleyway. Didn't your mother tell you anything about strangers, twerpette?" she teased.

Serena rolled her eyes. "I said I don't trust you, not that I find you threatening. I know you too well for that, Jessie," the performer spoke.

Jessie's confidence instantly returned. "Oh, really? You don't know why I bothered telling you that I lied about the mega blazekin," she pointed out.

Serena thought about it. "You were going to have James tell officer Jenny anyways and you wanted to build trust with me?" she guessed.

Jessie muttered something about twerps under her breath. "Well, you didn't know a few hours ago that I was a performer, so there. You don't know me," she spoke stubbornly.

There really wasn't much Serena could say to that. She was still getting over that particular piece of information herself. "Yeah... about that. Why did you start performing in the first place?" she asked. _Please have nothing to do with me._

Jessie stood up. "Why else? for the attention! As a queen of Kalos, it was my duty to grace the region with displays of my beauty and charm wherever I went! I think of it as my way of giving back," she exaggerated, throwing her arms out wide and twirling around in dream-like state.

While Serena should have felt relieved at learning Jessile's origins, a twinge of disappointment stuck itself in her as she learned that she really had nothing to do with jumpstarting another person's dream, even if it was that of a self-absorbed criminal. "So, if you've gotten that off your chest, can we go look for evidence, now?" Serena asked, ready to escape the confines of the depressing alleyway.

Jessie stopped making a fool of herself and shook her head empathetically. "Oh, no no no! You think that's the only reason I sent those two away? You know green hair twerp is guilty deep down anyways. No, I want to hear one of your secrets before we leave. It's only fair," she spoke ominously.

Serena took an involuntary pace backwards. Jessie's implications were starting to make her heart race, and not because she had joined the ranks of those who claimed Sawyer was guilty. "What makes you think I would want to do that? I don't trust you, remember?" she spoke with a bit of confidence.

There really wasn't much Jessie could do in Serena's mind. If she tried to battle with her gourgeist or wobbuffet, Sylveon would be more than a match for such familiar opponents, a fact Sylveon itself clearly understood as it casually prepared itself for combat. Jessie didn't seem to follow that logic and withdrew a poké ball anyways. "Well, I can't say I didn't want to do this, but then I'd be lying, twerpette. You get one chance. Who is it? the original twerp or the dancing twerp? Don't lie to me, because I'll know," Jessie demanded.

Serena froze. She had suspected that Jessie was cognicent of her love life ever since they left the police station, but there was no way she would feed the woman anything that sensitive to her. "Sylveon, get ready. She has no right to that information," Serena spoke with bitter determination.

Sylveon, already in a battle stance, cried out its name in a threatening manner. Jessie grinned evilly. "Since I'm feeling so generous, twerpette, I'll be honest with you one more time. I can't help but get invested in love stories. The juicer the better. Your little crush on the twerp though...I couldn't resist. I have to hear it from you. I even begged HQ to let me use my old partner here just to get you to admit it, so I recommend you rethink your bravado," Jessie threatened as she released the poké ball, bright light temporarily illuminating the alley, forcing shadows to scatter and dance frantically as the form of a serpent coalesced in front of the team rocket member.

The pokémon in front of Serena was unlike any she had seen before. Long red fangs accompanied red eyes on a long, legless body that ended in a pointed tail. There was no magnamity in the pokémon's glare. Jessie stroked the beast's head dotingly. "This is my seviper. It's seen more of the twerp than you have. If you don't answer my question... I don't think your Sylveon will appreciate the toxic results. Last chance, for real this time," Jessie offered cruelly.

Serena took in her new foe. She didn't need her pokédex to tell her that the snake was a posion type, and much more adept to fight then her Sylveon, largely unaccustomed to any real combat with anything other than gourgeist, wobbuffet and inkay. There was only one thing Serena could possibly think to respond with. "Why? Why go to these lengths when there's so many more important things going on?" she muttered.

Jessie cackled to herself. "Oh, once a twerp, always a twerp. I explained it already. I absolutely adore love triangles, and I love making twerps suffer. Now, I may not have had seviper brought here _specifically_ for this purpose, but I couldn't pass up this opportunity, as you can see, so let's have it. I'm sure you're just _dying_ to tell someone, so why not let it be someone who knows the twerp better than anyone?" the crook explained.

Serena tightened her hands into fists involuntarily, sparking a bit of pain in her palms. The spark seemed to ignite something in her, and she came to a sudden epiphany. _I am sick of not telling anyone. Clemont doesn't count because he figured it out by accident. I'm so sick of being teased, being told what to do with my love life and not having the courage to do anything about it. I'm sick of being teased. Everything is... sick._ "Jessie... you have no right to invade my personal life like this, just as you have no right to steal my pokémon or anyones. I refuse to tell you anything about Ash or Tierno, because they're both my friends," she spoke angrily, blue fire blazing in her eyes.

Jessie sighed, but her wicked grin remained smeared across her face. "So be it. Seviper, posion tail," she ordered.

Seviper didn't move. The pokémon didn't even force its tail to start glowing in readiness to strike. Jessie looked at her pokémon with irritation. "Oh come on, Seviper! It hasn't been that long since we've battl- huh?" she broke off as she realized that her pokémon was enveloped in a blue glow.

Seviper clearly struggled as Serena suddenly realized that her foe had been immobilized. She turned to Sylveon, but the fairy type seemed just as confused as she and Jessie were. A voice suddenly boomed from behind Serena in the alleyway. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything too important," spoke a man.

Serena whipped around to see none other than Eusine, the fortune teller from before standing in the alleyway, a gloved hand stretched invitingly outwards. "I knew our paths would cross again, Serena. How are you faring today?" he asked coolly.

Serena stared in disbelief at the fortune teller and his outstretched hand. "Um... are you doing..." she began, not quite sure if she was willing to ask what her mind was telling her to.

The man chuckled. "Oh, I can't help but pick up a trick or two in this line of work. Now then, Jessie, was it? I should hope you would have a very good reason for assaulting this fine youth here in such an uncouth manner. Out with it, then," he commanded with a swish of his cape.

Jessie had taken to glaring directly at the intruder, furious at her old friend's disabling. "You... you don't know who you're messing with, punk! Team rocket will not stand for this embarrassment!" she yelled defiantly.

Eusine's bemused smile melted into a frown. He waved his open palm to the right, and Seviper was slammed into the building with a cloud of dust and a cry of pain. Jessie and Serena gasped. "I really don't want to get rough, ma'am. Explain yourself or retreat. Those are your options. And don't lie to me. Your pokémon won't appreciate it," he warned slowly and deliberately, emulating Jessie's own threats.

For one of the first times since she had known the thief, Serena saw real worry on Jessie's face. She inhaled deeply and faced Eusine. "I was trying to get the twerpette here to tell me about her love life. She was selfish and refused. Is it too much for a girl to want to enjoy a love story?!"she asked aloud.

Eusine's face contorted in confusion before he began to laugh to himself. "Really? You want to mess with another person's love life? Deplorable, especially considering the lengths you would sink to here. There are more important crimes to be dealt with without creating some of your own. Serena, if I may, how aware of you about events that have occurred in town last night?" he asked.

It wasn't a leap to claim Serena was intimidated by the display of power she was witnessing. She chose her own and Sylveon's potential safety over her recent oath and spilled everything she knew about the champion's plight to the man, Jessie filling in her parts. Eusine said nothing for a while, nodding almost to himself. Eventually, he lowered his hand, and snapped his fingers, causing Seviper to be released and another pokémon to suddenly appear in front of the man that Serena recognized as an alakazam. Before either her or Jessie could say anything about the source of the attack on Seviper, the trickster spoke up. "I must apologize for the deception. My friend here was the one holding your pokémon hostage, not myself. I, however, needed to be fully informed of the situation, and the best way to accomplish that was intimidation. The situation is worse than I feared. Suicune may be in danger," he mused to himself.

Serena said the only thing that she could think of. "The champion is unconscious in a pokémon center and you're worried about a pokémon in a shrine that nobody can find?" she asked incredulously.

Eusine looked at her as if she was dense. "Of course! Suicune is everything to me, my goal, my passion, and my motivation! One day, Suicune and I will unite and I will train it to purify the land with even more efficiency than it already does, and I will not stand for any threat to such a majestic creature," he spoke intensely.

Jessie stepped forward a bit and whispered to Serena, "Great, you just told a nutcase the most sensitive information in the region. Way to go, lovesick twerp," she teased.

Serena wheeled around on the woman. "What did you just call me?!" she demanded.

Jessie had relaxed, apparently forgetting that Eusine's alakazam could still easily defeat her seviper. "What I said, Serena, is that I know you're playing a game, and if you keep playing for much longer, you're going to lose, and I'm going to laugh," she spoke firmly.

Serena looked to Eusine for aid, but the man merely shrugged. "You _did_ draw the queen of hearts. I won't get involved, but I was intending to advise you to exercise caution in your romantic expenditures. Take it or leave it," he spoke with a shrug.

Serena looked between the two and sighed. "Alright, I don't care what you say at this point, I'm leaving to meet up with the others because it's lunch time and Clemont should be finished with his investigation. Eusine, you're joining the investigation as an expert on the festival because of your knowledge of Suicune. Both of you are going to follow or I'll make officer Jenny arrest you for harassment. Understood?" she asked, pushing briskly past Eusine to leave without waiting for a response.

Jessie said something about letting a twerp get away with that, but Eusine stopped her. Frankly, Serena didn't care anymore. Walking wasn't important so long as she was doing it and it was taking her away from al the annoying people who didn't understand her. She was sick of being harassed, not making progress, being blocked at every opportunity to make a move, not having the guts to make one when it was necessary, being doted on by someone who she didn't truly care for, never reaching the potential she thought she could be able to... She was falling. It took an instant for Serena to realize that, in her frustration, she had walked straight through the saving feelers of Sylveon and was blindly stepping off the unguarded edge of the sidewalk into the river through the center of town. Strangely, she had enough time to decide that she didn't even really care if she got wet. Any physical ailment would be a fine distraction to the problems of the current moment. She closed her eyes and waited patiently for the river that had selected her to join it to accept her. She waited. A voice tickled the edge of her muted senses, piercing the barrier she had put up between herself and everyone else. She wanted to find the voice, tell it to be quiet so she could fall into the river and ignore the world for a while, only for a while. The voice was persistent , though, and Serena eventually found herself dragged towards the solid ground she despised, tumbling down and irritating the injuries on her hands. As Serena fell the wrong way, she became aware of a slip of paper emerging from her pocket where her card used to be. She snatched it as she lost her battle with gravity. Before she get a decent look at the foreign object, she turned to the source of the evil voice that had prevented her from ecstasy, only to see Ash. That didn't make sense. He must have showed up to tell the voice to let her fall. Ash waved a hand in front of Serena's face. "Serena, are you alright? You almost wandered into the river. What's wrong?" he asked frantically.

Serena looked at her hand, the dripping red oozing through the patchwork surrounding her palm pulling her out of her delusion. "Ash... I 'm sorry... I wasn't looking where I was going. What are you doing here?" she wondered.

Ash sighed in relief while Sylveon spoke its name happily. "You're alright, good. I think the stress of this is getting to you. We need to discuss that later. I came to get you. You see-" he started, only for Sawyer to call out from the bridge, "Serena, are you alright?"

Serena looked in befuddlement as the boy stared at her with concern, her puzzlement only expounded when the previously incarcerated trainer was joined by everyone else, standing on the bridge as if they expected her to put on a pokémon showcase performance for them. Eusine caught up to her behind her and announced this fact by snatching the piece of paper out of her pocket and opening it to examine its contents. "Passing notes? Charming. Hello again, Ash. Your friend told me a lot about you. Here," he said, returning the note.

Jessie ignored everyone and ran up to James, the two rapidly exchanging words while Seviper glared at everyone and made everyone uncomfortable. Serena dealt with one paradox at a time and unfurled the note.

 _I implore you to forget about Ash. Your other option is to forget about the card. I'll be watching._

Before Serena could even decide how to react to that, Ash moved himself closer on the ground to Serena, taking up her perspective before quietly saying, "Serena, I'm not quite sure what's wrong, but this is important, and we don't have a lot of time. Jenny called off the investigation."


	5. Chapter 5: The Road Less Traveled By

A pang of guilt stabbed itself through Serena as she instinctively reached behind her to grasp at a bag that wasn't there. Not having all of her pokémon was starting to take its toll on her. Her single remaining companion embraced Serena's suspended arm with a feeler in affection, having gotten used to its trainer's detrimental habit. Serena sighed to herself and accepted her friend's kindness with a pat on the head. She rose from the bench she was sitting on in some small clearing in the residential district of town, far away from her friends and the oblivious festivities. Ever since Ash had stopped her from taking a swim in the town river and dropped the bombshell that Jenny had cut off the investigation, she had felt like she had somehow failed to help her friends. _You're being irrational. Look on the bright side. Sawyer is back. Clemont is still working to help Diantha. Just because Jenny stopped searching for the culprit doesn't mean you have to follow suit._

Charming as her mind was, it didn't prevent Serena from acknowledging that Clemont's investigation still might not turn up any leads, their group was even more strained with half of them refusing to trust Sawyer at all, nobody sans Jenny herself knew why the police had stopped their investigation, and of course her own personal secret. However, not being able to do anything about it all was the worst part. Eventually, she had gotten sick of listening to Ash and Tierno bicker over Sawyer's innocence while she and the others were waiting on progress from Clemont and had excused herself, against the arguers and Bonnie's wishes. She didn't know how much time had passed since then, but she figured she had missed lunch since her stomach was complaining to her. Serena's desire to avoid not only the arguing, but also both Eusine and Jessie after the stunt they had pulled earlier overrode her need for nutrients. Instead, the performer withdrew the note that had popped out of her pocket while she was falling into the river. The only thing she was certain of regarding it was that whoever wrote it wasn't the same person who took her things, because otherwise they would have threatened her pokémon as well as her card. As she tried to figure out why anyone would care enough about her crush to go to such lengths to eliminate it, Sylveon tensed up in reaction to something behind her. Serena shoved her threat back into her vest pocket and turned to face Calem, trailed by both Eusine and Jessie, with Spike bringing up the rear as if to prevent escape. Serena raised an eyebrow at the strange trio as they noticed her and made a direct path towards her. "I told you all to leave me alone for a while, did I not?" she asked in an annoyed tone.

Calem shrugged apologetically. "Believe me, I didn't want to disturb a lady's private time, but it's been three hours, and the arguing isn't getting any better without you," Calem spoke calmly.

Serena rolled her eyes, sass taking the place of empathy. "Let them argue. There's plenty to argue about. Besides, I'd rather not be around your companions at the moment," she emphasized, with a gesture towards Eusine and Jessie.

A knowing smile grew on Calem's face. "I completely understand that. I went ahead and had them tell me what happened this morning, and I believe they both owe you an apology, don't they?" he asked, turning his head to stare at Jessie and Eusine.

Eusine immediately stepped forward and bowed his head respectfully. "Serena, I must deeply apologize for my actions this morning. They were an inappropriate method of obtaining information and ask for your benign forgiveness so that we may continue to solve this mystery together, allowing you to retrieve your possessions and me to find Suicune. If you have the mercy to forgive me now, I promise I will not forget it," he spoke elegantly, as if to address a person of royal status.

Serena had to admit, despite his shady, pompous aura, Eusine was charming when he wanted to be. Even Sylveon had loosened its grip on its trainer at the man's words. After a brief consideration, Serena nodded to herself. "Thank you for your apology, Eusine. I would appreciate your help in the future," she spoke slowly.

Eusine smiled in obvious relief while Serena focused on the more volatile and, in her own opinion, least forgivable of the pair. Jessie had crossed her arms and was refusing to meet the gazes of anyone. "What makes you think I'll apologize to a twerpette? You don't even know what I said to her!" Jessie exclaimed angrily.

Calem sighed. "I know whatever you said upset her enough to almost walk casually into a river, so unless you want Spike to show you what that feels like, you'll apologize," he threatened bluntly.

Jessie opened one eye to take in the intimidating figure standing over her. She then glanced at Serena and seemed to mutter something under her breath before uncrossing her arms and facing the younger performer fully. "I'm not going to apologize to you, twerpette. Do you want to know why?" she asked before pacing menacingly over towards Serena.

The girl shrank back a bit as Jessie stood over her. Calem lifted a hand and Spike began to step forward, but Eusine raised a glove in between Serena and the chesnaught to stop it. "I know where this is going," he said.

Calem raised an eyebrow and allowed his pokémon to stay its advance. Her way unfettered, Jessie got right in Serena's face and began to whisper in her ear. "I did you a huge favor, twerpette. Champ beater over there and the others have no knowledge of what happened between us. That's my apology, and in exchange I'm going to need three things from you. One: you need to help James and I get Meowth back. Two: I want you to help me get revenge on that psychic freak when this is over. Three, and most importantly: you have to tell Ash how you feel before we all leave town. Deal?" she asked, retracting her head and holding out a hand with a sinister grin on her face.

Serena was with the criminal until she presented her last stipulation of their agreement, which caused her to balk. "Please tell me you're joking," she managed to whisper to her foe.

Jessie didn't change her smile. "You know what the alternative is, twerpette," she responded.

Serena's brain worked a mile a minute. _I don't really have a choice but to agree... and at least two of her conditions I can meet as long as her definition of revenge isn't illegal. I'll just worry about the... third thing... later._ "Deal," Serena said, shaking Jessie's cold, gloved, hand, much to the older woman's delight.

"See, now that's how you make a deal. I need to show AZ this. Maybe he'll do something other than brood if he has an example of human interaction," Calem exclaimed to nobody in particular.

Eusine shot a glance towards Calem before stepping forward to stand beside Jessie in front of Serena. "Well, if everything is coming up roses, then I feel it necessary to inform you that, while you were gone, Calem snuck into the police station and found a letter for the good officer. Simply put, she was blackmailed to end the investigation at the risk of losing her growlithe. Sickening," he explained.

Serena gasped. "Seriously?! That would mean five pokémon are stolen then. It can't be a coincidence. Also, did you really steal from a police officer, Calem?" Serena asked accusingly.

Calem grinned sheepishly. "Not really, and only for both yours and my friends benefit. I simply happened to read something that was on a desk in a locked office, and that something told us that the culprit doesn't want the police involved," the boy explained.

Serena shoved down the danger of her imminent confession to consider the new information. "As important as that is, it doesn't really bring us any closer to finding this person, does it?" she asked aloud.

Calem nodded. "Yup. That's why we came to fetch you though. Bonnie said that Clemont might be close to a breakthrough, and everyone except these two, the not jolly or green giant and James insisted we collect you. Are you ready to come back? Ending the insufferable arguing when you get back would be nice too," he spoke.

Hesitation wasn't necessary. "Of course," Serena immediately answered. _As annoying as some of them have been, most of them still at least care about my well-being. I need to find a way to explain this to Ash before Jessie ruins everything..._ the girl thought as the group began to make their way back to the front of a café near the pokémon center where the group had been waiting for Clemont.

As they returned, Serena expected to hear the sounds of her friends verbally assailing one another, but instead, the path in front of the pokémon center was eerily quiet, confusing even Calem in spite of the lack of people in the area because of the festival. "Strange..." he muttered. "They were supposed to be right around here."

When the group did eventually see their friends, they found themselves met by a sort of staring contest between Ash and Tierno. Both boys looked ready to fight at any given moment, with Shauna and Bonnie both whispering to their respective companions to try and calm them down. Serena wasn't sure what was going on, but she figured it probably was a result of Jenny's decision. As they got closer, Bonnie noticed Serena first and quickly left Ash to rush towards her close friend. "Serena! Serena! You're back! Pleeease talk some sense into these two," she begged, looking at Serena with lillipup eyes.

At the mention of Serena's name, both Ash and Tierno immediately broke their gazes and faced the girl, while James, Sawyer, and Trevor, who had been sitting on a bench together like they had done it all their lives, rose and made their way back to the group. Ash was the first to reach Serena and gave her a warm smile. "Serena, it's good to see you again. Are you feeling alright?" he asked with a hint of concern.

Despite her own problems regarding Ash, Serena couldn't help but smile at Ash's fretting over her. Before she could respond, however, Tierno cut in. "We can worry about that later. Right now, she needs to vote," he stated rather officially.

That statement got Calem's attention. "And what are we voting on exactly, T-man? I would hope you're not trying to stop trying to catch the criminal you seem so intent on finding."

Tierno shook his head empathetically. "No way! Well... sort of, but not really. Look, the point is, we have no reason to pursue this person who's trying to attack the champion. We should focus on getting Serena's things and our pokémon back," he claimed.

Ash sighed. "And in order to do that, we need to find the person who attacked the champion. They have to be connected, and even further than that, we have a duty as trainers to help people who need our help, and Diantha needs help right now. We're the only help she has right now," he insisted.

Trevor jumped into the conversation. "At this point, Tierno and I are acting in the best interests of ours and your safety. We can't risk this person coming after us," he reasoned.

Calem looked between the opposing sides and grinned. "So, knowing the sides, where do the votes lie?" he asked.

Shauna spoke up to answer. "Right now, Tierno, Trevor and Sawyer are voting to only look for our stuff, while Ash, Bonnie, whose vote counts for herself and Clemont, and myself want to continue to look into both matters," she explained.

Serena raised an accusing eyebrow at Sawyer, who quickly became nervous. "Hey, I didn't want to be involved in any of this to start with. I just want to help you guys find your things so I can leave," he said defensively.

Serena sighed. "Well, I vote for Ash. We can't just ignore Diantha, and I think she's connected to our thefts as well," she decided, earning an approving grin from Ash that made her heart flutter just a little.

"That's five to three then," Shauna stated.

Calem shook his head. "Five to four. My apologies, Sunshine, but your safety is more relevant to me than Diantha's," he stated, causing Shauna to blush and look angry at the same time.

Eusine realized everyone was looking to him to vote. "Well, if it's five to four, I'll make it five to five. we aren't going to solve this with a majority tyrannizing a minority," he spoke.

Ash sighed in disappointment. "Then we're tied. Now what?" he asked aloud.

Nobody seemed to have a decent answer to that question until both Jessie and James stepped in between everybody and struck a pose with all their usual flamboyance. "Not quite, twerp! You forgot about our votes!" James exclaimed.

Tierno shook his head. "You two don't get votes. You're criminals," he said matter-of-factly.

Jessie laughed. "You don't think green-haired twerp is a criminal anymore?! Well, that was a quick turnaround!" she spoke with energy.

Tierno started to argue that point, but realized he couldn't bar Jessie and James from voting without barring Sawyer from voting, which Ash and Serena clearly weren't going to allow. "Fine then. Have at it," he invited sullenly.

James grinned almost as wide as his partner. "Excellent! We stand with the champion. As criminals, we can tell when two crimes are related, and these two groups of crimes definitely relate!" he spoke empathetically.

Serena hadn't expected the two of them to side with her, especially Jessie, but Ash almost looked like he had seen the event coming. "Thanks, you two. I knew I could count on you," he praised.

Jessie quickly pivoted into an indifferent frown. "Whatever, twerp. We're helping out of necessity, not empathy," she clarified.

The decision made, Tierno looked ready to immediately question the arguments being made or even the vote itself, but Clemont chose that moment to exit the pokémon center, oblivious to the events that had occurred outside the building. "Hello, everyone. Diantha is stabilized, but she isn't going to wake up just yet. Gardevoir, however, thanks to nurse Joy, is starting to come around. I think we can get some information out of it," he spoke proudly, clearly happy with his own labor.

At this revelation, Ash sighed in relief. "That's good to hear, Clemont. Can we go see Gardevoir?" he asked.

Clemont nodded. "Of course, but I don't want to bring everyone. we look suspicious enough hanging out in a large group like this," he reasoned.

Calem immediately jumped on this suggestion. "Alright, then, according to our votes, we send Ash, Serena, Bonnie, Clemont and Sawyer to make it fair for our side in to see Gardevoir. Sound reasonable, T-man?" he asked his friend.

Tierno looked like he was trying to figure out why Calem wasn't arguing for the chance to see Gardevoir, as was Serena, but Trevor seemed to figure it out first. "Alright, Calem, that's a great idea. Sawyer, go with them," he instructed.

Realizing he didn't seem to have a choice, Sawyer frowned but joined Ash's group. Ash, oblivious to the politics around him, simply looked happy to be making some progress and allowed Clemont to lead him and the others Calem had selected back into the pokémon center while Shauna whispered something to Serena about how well everyone was getting along, causing the performer to shrug a bit helplessly. As she entered the pokémon center, Serena didn't notice anything immediately remarkable about the facility compared to the other ones she had visited with Ash on her journey. She did do a double take at the wigglytuff standing behind the counter in the place of where nurse Joy would normally receive the pokémon of trainers. The pokémon looked rather bored, which was understandable considering the lack of trainers in the lobby. "Nurse Joy is in the back with our friend," he explained brusquely.

Moving past the lobby and infirmary, Serena and the others found themselves approaching a back room that the performer had always just assumed was used as nurse Joy's office. When Clemont opened the door, she instead was greeted by a hospital room, if hospital rooms were designed for rich people. Expensive looking medical equipment was hung up and around one wall, while the opposite wall was adorned by several pictures of famous people and pokémon, all with signatures. Clemont's backpack sat open in one corner of the room, several wires and technologically baffling pieces of equipment jutting out of its maw. The feature of the room, however, was clearly the two large beds that looked more comfortable than any hotel Serena had ever seen. Nurse Joy stood over one of the beds, the one that contained Gardevoir, monitoring vital signs as the pokémon tossed and turned weakly in its sleep. Diantha rested in the other bed, looking much worse than its partner in terms of poison, but thankfully with no more visible injuries. A police officer stood solemnly in another corner of the room. Clemont immediately returned to his backpack while Bonnie motioned to the others to come up to nurse Joy with her. The pokémon doctor glanced up at the sound of new arrivals before returning to her work. "Clemont told you the situation then. I've been monitoring the two of them closely. The traditional antidote I use for toxins of this level is appearing to have some positive effect on Gardevoir, but Diantha isn't responding as well. She needs to see a human doctor, but he might not arrive for another day or so..." she trailed off, clearly under a large amount of stress.

Bonnie gave nurse Joy a small hug. "Don't worry, nurse Joy! My brother can fix anything, even people! He's a genius!" she boasted.

Clemont didn't turn around to react, but he did speak up. "I'm able to help nurse Joy stabilize Diantha's condition until the real doctors arrive. In the meantime, we need to focus on finding the cause of their illness, which is why I had you all come in," he stated without emotion.

Sawyer shot a nervous glance at the police officer. "I... thought the police weren't involved in this anymore," he spoke with a hint of nervousness in his voice.

"He's not part of the investigation. This is a private hospital room reserved for pokémon and/or people that would be too greatly harassed by the public in a public healing facility. The police officer is for personal protection," nurse Joy explained without looking up.

Sawyer didn't look at all reassured. "Okay, if you say so..." he muttered.

Ash responded to this with a pat on Sawyer's back. "You need to relax, Sawyer. You have no reason to be scared of the law," he reassured, to little effect.

Serena walked over to Gardevoir. As Clemont had said, the pokémon appeared to be close to waking up. Clemont had finished his business with his pack and had taken a place at Serena's side. "If our estimates are correct, Gardevoir should be waking up in a minute or so," he stated.

Nurse Joy nodded without looking up. Ash took a place at Serena's right while Sawyer stood next to Bonnie and the nurse, as far away from the cop as possible. Standing there was difficult, watching the clear pain contort and twist itself upon Gardevoir's face as it fought the toxins inside of it. The sight reminded Serena of how much she hated seeing hers or any of her friend's pokémon hurt or in pain. _Whoever did this might have my pokémon..._ spoke a dark thought in Serena's mind, causing her, without thinking about it, to intertwine her hand in Ash's. The boy looked at his hand a bit confused, but said nothing and refocused on Gardevoir. Serena found the pain flaring up in her hands to be a wonderful distraction from both the pain the pokémon in front of her was going through and the embarrassment she would face if Bonnie happened to notice her action. Fortuitously, she didn't get the chance to explore that route as Gardevoir's eyes mercifully began to flutter open. Clemont pressed a few buttons on a remote he was holding while nurse Joy motioned for everyone to stand back. The gardevoir's eyes fully opened and it blinked its forced sleep away while it sat up. The room seemed to hold its breath, the only noise coming from the monitors reading the vitals of the patients. As gardevoir started to take in its surroundings, it noticed Diantha lying next to it. The pokémon immediately disappeared and reappeared next to its trainer, clearly distraught at the condition it found her in. "Gardevoir, you're still far too weak to use your powers! Diantha is going to be fine!" nurse Joy exclaimed hurriedly.

At the sound of its name, Gardevoir's head snapped up. Its eyes were glowing a dangerous blue. Clemont put a hand defensively in front of Bonnie. "Gardevoir..." it stated ominously, clearly wary of the people in front of it.

The officer in the room reacted, drawing a poké ball from his belt and preparing to attack the psychic type. Before he could, Ash held out a hand to halt the cop. "Officer, wait! Gardevoir, don't you recognize us? We're your friends, remember? It's me, Ash. We've battled before! Come on, let us help you," he insisted.

Gardevoir swung its gaze towards Ash and stared intensely at the boy. Sylveon tensed up, ready to battle if the injured pokémon attacked. Serena was starting to think that Gardevoir had frozen where it was before the light finally began to dim from its eyes, showing that the pokémon had calmed down. Ash grinned widely at the pokémon. "Thank you, Gardevoir. We're all here to help you, and I promise we'll make the person that did this to you and your trainer answer for their actions," he swore.

Serena felt pride in her friend for his taking of responsibility mixed with relief that his attempt to placate Gardevoir had paid off. Nurse Joy made her way carefully over to Gardevoir, causing the pokémon to start to tense again before Ash insisted she was a friend. The pokémon cautiously allowed the nurse to check Gardevoir's body. "As I suspected, you're still very weak, Gardevoir. I have to strongly advise against using your powers again until the toxins are completely expelled from your body. I won't force you to leave your trainer's side, but you at least need to rest. The officer here can easily protect you if necessary," she reassured.

The officer tipped his hat in acknowledgement, while Gardevoir seemed to have completely calmed down. Serena decided to take the initiative, if only to prevent Ash from having to push the envelope himself. "Gardevoir... we were wondering if you could provide any information to us about the attack on you and Diantha. It would be really helpful in trying to catch the culprits," she asked as innocently as possible.

Gardevoir looked at Serena for a few seconds, the turned to nurse Joy, as if asking a question to its caretaker. Nurse Joy didn't seem to understand immediately, but Gardevoir's eyes flashed blue and a light bulb appeared to go off in her head. "Oh... no! Absolutely not! I don't care how important the information is, doing that could permanently damage yours or even the girl's mind given your current state! I won't allow it," she stated firmly.

Gardevoir sighed and looked forlornly at the performer. Serena turned to nurse Joy for an explanation. "Gardevoir wanted to try to talk to you telepathically, but I can't allow that as the one caring for it right now. It would be dangerous to attempt even in a healthy state. The mental bond between the two minds has to be exceedingly strong, and only Diantha is likely to have that kind of bond with this gardevoir," the nurse spoke.

Ash sighed. "Well, that's not an option, then. Have you found anything useful from their injuries, Clemont?" he asked hopefully.

Clemont fiddled with his remote. "Unfortunately, not really. All I can say is that the assailant used some sort of claw or clawed weapon and that the poison is from a combination of multiple different pokémon's poisons," he revealed dejectedly.

Everyone in the room felt the implications of another dead end sinking in. Gardevoir looked dejectedly at Ash, the only person in the room that hadn't stopped smiling. "Gardevoir, I made a promise to you. I'm not going to break it, so focus on caring for your trainer and yourself," he insisted, with a nod from nurse Joy and even the cop.

Gardevoir considered this, and nodded before looking over Diantha again. "Soooo, back to square one?" Bonnie chirped.

Clemont frowned. "Unfortunately so. My machine that I created for a situation just like this can handle all the work I wanted to do here without me, and the remote tells me everything I need to know as it happens, so there isn't much left we can do until-" he admitted before being cut off by Gardevoir's cry.

"Gard!" the pokémon exclaimed as it suddenly clutched at the dress of its trainer, turning Diantha to reveal the empty space where her key stone would have been.

Nurse Joy frowned worriedly. "Oh... I had forgotten. Gardevoir, whoever attacked you took Diantha's key stone, but I promise- Gardevoir?" she asked, as Gardevoir had stopped looking distraught and had closed its eyes in concentration.

Sawyer, who had been mostly quiet for the entire conversation, suddenly spoke again. "We might want to leave," he suggested quietly.

Ash looked ready to agree, but Clemont shook his head. "I think Gardevoir is searching for Diantha's key stone. If Gardevoir can locate it, then we can locate the culprit!" he said excitedly.

This got everyone in the room pumped except for Sawyer, who seemed to shrink a little bit. He opened his mouth to say something, but Gardevoir chose that moment to again fling its eyes open, the blue glow having returned, and teleport directly in front of the green-haired trainer. Before anyone could react, Sawyer was surrounded by the same blue glow and floating a few feet in the air, dangling helplessly while Gardevoir held the trainer. Ash broke his grip with Serena and pulled out a poké ball, as did Clemont and the officer before Gardevoir waved its other had and forced all of the poké balls in the room to fall to the ground, a blue glow around them indicating that they wouldn't be opening until Gardevoir allowed them to. "Gardevoir, stop! What are you doing to Sawyer!?" Ash exclaimed in disbelief.

Serena realized she was the only person with a pokémon that could fight. She was the only one that could prevent whatever it was Gardevoir was about to do. Gardevoir understood this too, and it shifted its hand directly towards Serena. instead of being surrounded by a blue glow, however, Gardevoir motioned for the trainer to approach. Confused, the performer turned to Ash for advice, but he looked just as befuddled as everyone else. Sylveon, on the other hand, seemed to accept Gardevoir's invitation and began to step forward. Serena decided to trust her pokémon and joined it. Gardevoir flicked a wrist and one of Sawyer's pockets opened up. Serena looked at it curiously. "Are you telling me to look in there, Gardevoir?" she asked.

"Don't!" exclaimed Sawyer as Gardevoir nodded.

Before Serena could even consider doing that strange task, the blue glow in Gardevoir's eyes dimmed as it grimaced in pain, the toxin clearly taking its toll on the pokémon after such extensive psychic ability usage. The pain caused Gardevoir to lose its grip on Sawyer, sending the boy tumbling to the ground painfully. As he fell, a small, glowing object was ejected from his open pocket and began hurtling to the ground, only to be caught at the last second by Bonnie, the first to respond to Gardevoir's weakness. She looked at the bauble in her palm for a few seconds before holding it up to reveal none other than Diantha's key stone. Everything froze for a moment, even nurse Joy's tending to Gardevoir. Sawyer rose and rubbed his head from the fall. "Listen, everyone. I can explain where I-" he began.

"Save it," Clemont said coldly. "There's only one way that key stone could have ended up with you Sawyer."

Sawyer shook his head rapidly. "I didn't attack the champion! I got the key stone from AZ! I promise you I had nothing to do with this, believe me!" he pleaded.

Serena spoke up. "Sawyer... how can we believe that? Do you have any proof?" she asked tentatively, somewhat in disbelief that she was really accusing her own friend.

Sawyer paused and seemed to try to answer that question himself. Eventually his gaze rested on Gardevoir, battling unconsciousness as a result of exerting its psychic powers so extensively while injured. "Gardevoir... do you think I did it? Do you really think I attacked you and stole your trainer's key stone?" he asked.

Gardevoir looked like it was ready to pass out again, but at the sound of its name being said, it forced its consciousness to remain through sheer willpower alone. It stared at Sawyer for an eternal moment before finally shaking its head no. "Gardevoir..." spoke the pokémon before again succumbing to the injuries that had claimed it earlier.

As nurse Joy and Clemont rushed to tend to Gardevoir and move it back to the bed, Serena retuned her focus to Sawyer as Ash spoke up. "I believe you, Sawyer, even more so because Gardevoir believes you. We need to talk to AZ to get to the bottom of this," he decided.

Sawyer sighed. "I guess you didn't notice then. None of you did. He does have that effect on people, in spite of his size," he said.

Nobody really understood what Sawyer was saying for a moment. Finally, it suddenly hit Serena. "Ever since Jenny called off the investigation... even when we voted... we didn't notice that AZ was gone," she spoke.

Sawyer lowered his head. "I really wanted to tell you, honestly, but I didn't want to draw more attention to myself. I was going to return the key stone to Diantha privately after she woke up, I swear to you on my honor. If you want to know what really happened, you have to find AZ," he insisted.

Ash nodded to himself. "Right then, we don't have any time to waste. Clemont, stay here and help nurse Joy with our friends. If anything else happens, let us know. Bonnie, you and Sawyer go out and tell the others everything that just happened. Serena, you and I are going after AZ," he ordered.

Whether it was from all the time Serena and the others had spent being conditioned to listen to Ash as the unofficial leader of their group or the lack of any better options, everyone obeyed immediately. Ash bolted out of the pokémon center with Serena hot on his trail. The two flew by their group of friends waiting around outside before anyone could react, and Serena found herself putting all of her energy into running just to barely stay behind Ash. Sylveon kept the pace the two trainers had easily, and provided encouragement to its own trainer that gave Serena the strength she needed to continue to pursue Ash as her friends disappeared behind her. Even with her pokémon's moral support, Serena could feel the sudden activity taking its toll on her body. She wasn't sure how much longer she could continue to sprint past the quiet houses along the stone paved road before her legs gave out on her. Mercifully, Ash started to slow down a bit and consider the direction he was heading, giving Serena the chance she needed to catch up to her crush. "Ash... do you even know... where you're going?" she asked in between sharp breaths.

Ash turned and immediately slowed his face further for Serena's benefit. "Honestly, no. That being said, this is the fastest way out of town from the pokémon center that I know of, and AZ couldn't have gotten too far in only a few hours, especially if he meant it when he said he'd stay in the area," he responded.

For once, Serena wasn't totally reassured by Ash's response, but it wasn't really his fault. He was taking the best chance at catching up to the mysterious man that they had. The performer felt her strength slowly start to return to her as their pace relaxed further. "Alright then... What about Sawyer?" she continued.

Ash tilted his head in confusion. "What about Sawyer? Do you still think he did it?" he countered.

Serena thought hard about the question for a moment. _It's possible that what he's saying is true. But at the same time..._ she pondered, shuddering a bit at the thought of the alternative her brain was entertaining.

"I don't know, Ash, really. We need to find and talk to AZ again before I can make a decision on that or not," she decided.

A sigh escaped Ash's mouth. "That's not a bad answer, but something in my gut is telling me Sawyer would never do something like this. I can't explain it, but I know it's telling the truth, and I trust it enough to lead me to the culprit that stole Pikachu. It's a sort of feeling like with you and-" he stopped short suddenly as he r,.;ealized what he was saying.

Serena's face flushed with color as she considered just a few of the implications behind Ash's unfinished statement. "Um... what were you saying, Ash?" she asked tentatively while staring down at the ground, not completely sure if she wanted to even know the answer.

Ash was having great difficulty finding the proper words to say next, but when Serena spoke, he immediately jumped into a strange sort of nervousness. "I think we're almost at the edge of town. I'll start looking for AZ in the woods to the right while you check the left, okay, Serena?" he almost seemed to beg.

Before Serena could even answer, Ash had taken off again, heading for his determined search area. Serena looked at Sylveon to see her own befuddlement mirrored in the fairy type pokémon's eyes. She looked around and realized they weren't even that close to the edge of town, so there really was no reason for Ash to have left so suddenly other than his own slip of the tongue. She sighed to herself. "Oh Ash..." she muttered. "I hope you'll understand what I've promised to do before this is over. Come on, Sylveon. We need to find AZ and get some answers."

The trek to the woods was about as uneventful as the woods themselves. Despite the natural beauty that Serena found herself surrounded by for what felt like the tenth time in the past day, she couldn't relax. Everything was too quiet, to the point where stepping on a twig sounded like a noivern's boomburst. "This isn't right, Sylveon. Every other time we were here I could hear at least some forest pokémon around. Except..." she broke off as she realized the implications behind her thought process. _If the forest pokémon aren't here... then they may be with him._ she understood.

Moving more carefully than before, Serena continued to explore the densely wooded area, eventually stumbling upon a clearing. Serena stopped short of entering the area when she realized who was in the center. AZ sat on a tree stump, surrounded by several different species of flying and bug type pokémon, some of which Serena had never even seen before. He appeared to be speaking in the same language he had used that Serena had thought was familiar but couldn't understand at all. _Maybe it's some weird language that pokémon can understand. If that's the case, then maybe he can talk to Gardevoir!_ As Serena put these pieces together, Sylveon again appeared to become entranced by the man and began to enter the clearing.

Serena saw this and panicked, trying to snatch at one of Sylveon's feelings but missing horribly, sending the performer crashing into the clearing, scattering all of the other pokémon. AZ took in the new arrival as Sylveon approached him and placed a feeler on his massive hand to be stroked. "It would seem you have followed me," he rumbled as Serena quickly rose to prevent herself from looking incompetent.

"Sylveon, get back here! He might have stolen the key stone!" Serena called to her pokémon harshly.

Sylveon looked wistfully at AZ, but it obeyed its trainer standing by her side as AZ rose to his full terrifying height. "I see. You would call me a criminal, then, young one?" he asked.

Sudden realization that AZ could hear struck Serena. "Oh... AZ, Sawyer said that you gave him Diantha's key stone. Is that...true?" she asked.

AZ said nothing, and for a moment she thought the man was going to ignore her completely, but he eventually nodded in affirmation. Serena couldn't hold back a gasp. "Wait... so does that mean that you, well-" she began.

"I gave Sawyer the stone because it is not my place to be involved in matters such as this," AZ interrupted.

Serena frowned in frustration. "That isn't what I was asking. I wanted to know-" she started, only to be interrupted again, this time by another person exploding out of the foliage.

"I knew it! I knew you'd be here! Serena, don't worry, I won't let him hurt you like he hurt the champion!" exclaimed Tierno as he did a dramatic dance move to enter the scene.

Serena just stared at the boy in disbelief, while AZ remained as unperturbed as ever. "I believe you are the one they called Tierno, yes? You were the largest proponent for Sawyer's incarceration, were you not?" he asked.

Tierno didn't back down. "Yeah, because that's what the evidence said, but now I have proof from the victims themselves! You had to have committed the crime! Blastoise, go!" he spoke as he released his starter pokémon in a bright show of light.

AZ frowned down at the pokémon below him. "If you will not listen to my words then I will say nothing," he spoke slowly, dragging his speech for several seconds longer than necessary.

Serena decided to step in. "Tierno, stop. Let's at least hear him out," she offered.

Tierno frowned and shook his head. "Don't worry, Serena. I have everything under control," he insisted.

Serena huffed and motioned to Sylveon. The two stepped forward, in between AZ and Tierno. "If you really want to bring AZ in, you're going to have to battle us first," she spoke with all the confidence she could muster.

That got Tierno's full attention. "Well, I'm not going to do that, Serena. You and I both know what would happen. Let me take care of this, please," he asked, a bit more uncertainly.

Serena stood firm, absolutely sick of Tierno's witch hunting, no matter the intentions behind it. "No, Tierno. you know exactly where I stand," she spoke with more conviction.

Tierno seemed to consider his options before sighing heavily. "Serena... I can't... but... argh! Just get out of my way already!" he yelled at her.

Serena tensed herself up for what she expected to be a grueling battle with Tierno while AZ stood unmoved. Before Tierno could go against his better judgement and attack, Shauna emerged from the same hole Tierno had left in the forest when he had crashed into the clearing. "Tierno? Why'd you have to run off like that and leave- what's going on here?" she asked as she realized two off her friends were on the verge of fighting.

"Shauna, Tierno is trying to bring AZ in without giving him a chance to explain himself!" Serena called out to her friend.

Shauna looked at Tierno. "Are you really going to battle Serena over this?" she asked with the exasperation of a tired mother.

Tierno looked even more uncertain, but he didn't budge. "Sawyer and Bonnie insisted he was involved, though, and he had Diantha's key stone! If it wasn't Sawyer, it has to be him, and he convinced Serena of his faux innocence already!" the boy insisted.

Shauna heaved a sigh. "Serena, have you been brainwashed by AZ?" she asked sardonically.

Serena couldn't help but smirk at the implications of that statement. "Not that I know of," she replied.

Shauna turned to Tierno and gave him a look that dared him to argue. "She could be lying..." he muttered, almost too quietly for Serena to hear.

Shauna threw her hands up in the air. "You're insufferable sometimes, you know that? Serena, are you lying?" she called out.

Serena had completely relaxed at this point. "Yes, Shauna, you got me, I'm lying," she replied sarcastically.

"I knew it!" shouted Tierno before he the looks he received from everyone, even AZ, helped him realize his mistake. "Oh... that was sarcastic..." he spoke dejectedly.

Shauna sighed again. "Look, all we care about right now is the facts. We heard what Sawyer said and saw his evidence, and now AZ has a right to say his piece before anyone brings anyone in, understood?" she asked everyone.

Serena and Sylveon immediately nodded while AZ remained as unperturbed as ever. Tierno frowned but eventually returned his blastoise. "Fine, he can talk, but if I don't like what I hear, then he's going to the police station, and nobody's stopping me," he exclaimed in a desperate attempt to salvage authority in the situation.

Shauna simply nodded. "As I said, we need the facts, and they won't lie to us. AZ, if you would," she prompted.

AZ hadn't reacted too much to the new arrival, but even he could understand when it was his turn to speak. "If facts are what you seek, then I will provide them in the hopes of being left to my solitude in return. I came across your champion in the woods last night. She was physically exhausted, but uninjured. I had no intention of interaction with her, but she spotted me and approached before I could take my leave. The woman provided me her mega stone and insisted that I hold onto it, despite my own protests. She appeared to be in a hurry, as if she was being pursued, and as soon as she gave me her stone, she sprinted back towards the town. I had no intention of being involved in the woman's plan, so I waited by the road and passed the stone along to the next visitor that travelled by, which happened to be the green haired child. Every event after that is either irrelevant or known to you already," he explained, finishing with several heaving breaths from a man clearly not used to using his voice so extensively.

Tierno shook his head. "That doesn't make sense though. We know that Diantha was found in an abandoned house unconscious and injured with her gardevoir. A citizen found them and reported the incident. She couldn't have wandered into the woods to hand you her stone knowing she was pursued and then return. That makes no sense," he reasoned, growing more accusatory with every word.

Serena had to admit, AZ's story appeared to have several gaping holes in it, not the least of which was Diantha's reasoning for coming out to the woods before returning to town. _unless..._ "Was there a pokémon with Diantha?" she asked.

AZ shook his large head. "No, the woman in white appeared before me by her lonesome," he confirmed.

Serena began to suspect at Diantha's motive for coming to the woods, but Tierno remained as stubborn as ever. "He did it, then. There's no way that story is true. There's too many plot holes that the facts don't match up with," he decided.

Shauna, surprisingly, shook her head. "Why would he be lying, then, unless he committed the crime himself? If he did commit the crime, why bother? He doesn't have a motive," Shauna argued back.

Serena looked at AZ and found nothing revealed on his face, but she was a bit disturbed to find that he was looking directly back at her, as if daring her to ask him something. She decided to act on a hunch. "AZ, did Diantha give you anything else that night? Anything to prove you interacted with her?" she spoke in an attempt to coax AZ into fighting for his own trustworthiness.

The tall man considered the question before coming to some sort of epiphany. "Ah. Yes. She provided me with this in addition to the key stone. It is indecipherable to me, but I suppose you can make use of it," he stated, withdrawing a small card that bore eerie resemblance to Serena's own missing card.

AZ leaned down a bit to hand Serena the card. Shauna and Tierno gathered around her to read the words printed in bold black letters

 **IF YOU'RE READING THIS, PLEASE TAKE MY KEY STONE TO KATHI LEE. SHE SHOULD BE  
** _at the mayor's old home in the deep forest._

 _Thanks, Diantha_

The latter half of the card was scrawled down in a person's writing, but Serena immediately recognized the signature at the bottom as that of the champion's. Serena exchanged a glance with Shauna and they both mentally confirmed what they were thinking, that AZ was telling the truth. Suddenly, Serena felt the card get whisked out of her hand and saw Tierno standing smugly in front of her with it. "This is the breakthrough we needed, guys! The others have to know that I figured it out!" he cried before running back through the hole he made in the woods towards Cinder Town.

"All we figured out was that your opinion was wrong!" Serena shouted after him as he vanished.

Shauna shrugged. "As nice as that sounds, it isn't totally true. We have a place to go to confirm Diantha's actions and potentially get more help with the investigation now. Somebody probably knows where this place is," she said, looking a bit hopefully at AZ.

AZ noticed the look but didn't respond immediately. Instead, he turned to Serena again. "Do you know why I avoid involvement, child?" he asked quietly, even for him.

The question caught Serena a bit off guard, and she tilted her head in confusion, much in the same way Ash had earlier. "Why you don't want to be involved in things? Are you scared people will blame you for things you didn't do?" she guessed.

AZ shook his head. "I do not fear what is always going to happen. I lost my ability to fear for the inevitable when the inevitable gave me enough time to believe it was lying," he responded somberly.

Shauna was just as confused. "What are you trying to say?" she asked.

AZ turned to Shauna. "I am trying to tell you that life consists of several roads to be travelled down, some more travelled by than others. What nobody thinks about is where the roads came from, and how one found themselves standing there in the first place," he spoke.

Both Serena and Shauna waited expectantly for the man to continue, but AZ seemed to have lost himself in thought. Serena decided to pierce the silence. "So what road do you travel down, AZ?" she asked, trying to prompt him to finish his explanation.

AZ sighed. "I avoid involvement because of people like you, Serena. People like you that don't have a choice but to be successful for the good of others. My time was decided long ago, and I now run with a clock three minutes away from midnight. Responsibility such as yours is too dangerous to have for myself," he stated plainly.

Serena blinked to make sure AZ wasn't just messing with her. "Why do you insist that I'm important?" she asked.

AZ shook his head. "That is not something that I will explain to you, but know this: nothing I have done or ever intend to do has brought harm to the champion," he finished.

Shauna and Serena exchanged a glance as they decided whether or not the believe the man. Something about what he said stuck with Serena. ' _people like you that don't have a choice but to be successful for the good of others.' Braixen, Pancham, Pikachu, even Meowth. They're all depending on me and my friends to succeed. I have to pull through for them._ she mentally decided.

"I trust you AZ. If you wish to be alone, then Shauna and I will respect that, right Shauna?" she stated.

Shauna paused for a moment longer than Serena but eventually nodded in agreement to her friend's words. AZ almost showed some relief on his face. "I appreciate this deeply, Serena and Shauna. May we not meet again," he spoke as he lumbered further into the forest.

Serena let out a sigh of relief she didn't know she was holding. Shauna stretched her arms out wide. "I'd say that went well," she spoke casually.

"Do you think so? Tierno just took our only lead and we still don't know who committed the crime," Serena pointed out.

Shauna raised an eyebrow. "Ridiculous as Tierno is, he took that card just to make himself look like the hero. We aren't going to lose it because of him. As far as the culprit goes, do you really think AZ and Sawyer are innocent?" she asked.

"I think they aren't telling us everything, but I can't see either of them as the assailant. We don't have enough proof to accuse anyone, and for all we know it's someone we don't even know, "Serena reasoned.

"What an excellent point! Didn't we eat our clever cereal this morning?" exclaimed Eusine boisterously as he emerged from the undergrowth. "Aren't we all just keeping things from each other, though? If we measured guilt in secrets kept, then I'd wager you two would be the most suspicious out of any of us," he continued.

Serena and Shauna were badly startled by the new arrival, but Serena recovered first. "What are you doing here, Eusine?" she asked with an edge to her voice.

Eusine bowed gracefully and appeared to compose himself a bit. "Apologies for the scare, but what you said struck such a chord with me when I heard it that I simply had to respond. It's so uncommon for me to get fired up like that, but your analysis triggered it. You should feel proud," he praised.

Serena wasn't sure what to say to that while Sylveon made a low angry noise at Eusine. "Thanks, I guess?" she finally responded.

"Oh, anytime! I'll round up the others, let them know you've found something. In the meantime, I encourage the two of you to get a firmer grasp on your own personal secrets. Calem and Ketchum won't wait forever, you know!" he warned before disappearing just as quickly as he appeared.

Both Shauna and Serena had immediately blushed at the use of their crush's name and secret in the same sentence. They exchanged a glance and looked away immediately. A silent agreement formed between the two to not speak of what was just brought up. Serena began to walk back to town and Shauna followed. She wasn't sure what she could say to clear the air without making it seem like she was avoiding talking about Ash, and she could tell that Shauna was having the same dilemma with Calem. Sylveon seemed to pick up on the sudden tension between the two girls and picked up the pace to intertwine its feelers with Serena and Shauna's arms, forcing the two of them to walk closer together. "Sylveon!" the pokémon exclaimed jovially.

Serena couldn't help but smile a bit at Sylveon's innocent solution to making people happy. She decided to take a shot. "Shauna..." she started.

Shauna simply nodded to Serena. "I get it. You have your crush, I... have mine. We don't have to hide it from each other, and apparently we don't do a good job of hiding it from the others," she admitted.

Serena nodded. "So there doesn't need to be tension between us over this. There are more important things to be taken care of before we can worry about this anyways," she spoke.

Shauna agreed, causing Sylveon to smile happily and cry out in joy. Serena and Shauna exchanged a smile and made their way back to the front of the pokémon center. When they finally made it back, nobody was around sans Jessie and James, so Serena decided to fill in Clemont on the situation while Shauna explained what was happening to the rockets. Upon hearing that they had a lead, Clemont decided to leave nurse Joy to her monitoring and left the center with Serena. Jessie and James were actually listening intently to Shauna's explanation when she arrived, and seemed adamant about providing their aid. The group of five waited for a while for Eusine to gather up everyone, and when they all returned, Tierno, who had returned first out of everyone, explained what had taken place with AZ. Calem was the first to react to the information by slapping himself on the forehead. "Right, I should have known that Diantha's team would be hanging out somewhere nearby. They might not even know she's in trouble. We need to find this place quickly," he insisted.

Eusine actually beamed at the revelation of their next destination. "If you're trying to get to that abandoned manor, I would be more than elated to take you there. I used to visit when the place was still in use, a long time ago. If houses could talk, this one could write a best-selling series," he rambled, losing his point a bit as he got lost in nostalgia.

"That's great, Eusine," spoke Ash, interrupting the man's daydreaming. "Could you take us there? From the sound of it, Kathi Lee and the rest of Diantha's team should be able to help us with our mission."

Trevor nodded in agreement. "I don't know any other course of action that can give us further information. I can't even be sure of my own photography now..." he trailed off, having been a little distraught at the ever-lowering odds of his picture correctly labelling Sawyer as the criminal.

"Aw, cheer up, Snap! We'll get that baddie one way or another! Who knows, maybe it is Sawyer and this little excursion will confirm that!" he pointed out encouragingly.

Sawyer opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but James of all people put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. Sawyer turned and shook it off, but granted the criminal the silence he requested. The blue-haired man turned to Calem, Jessie moving to stand beside him. "Until we know for certain, speculation will only get people in trouble who don't need to be in trouble. Let's get to the manor, posthaste," he said.

Jessie seemed to mutter an addendum to that statement, but Serena couldn't quite make it out. In any case, everyone else grew quiet at the strong defense James had taken for Sawyer. Tierno eventually scoffed. "Leave it to a criminal to defend a criminal," he spoke loudly enough for Jessie to hear.

"Leave it to someone in denial to deny others the chance to prove their innocence," Jessie shot back.

"What was that, thief?" Tierno said ominously.

Jessie shrugged. "You heard me, even if you deny it," she responded with her personal sadistic grin.

Tierno withdrew a poké ball from his belt, only for Ash to move in between him and Jessie. "Tierno, no. We don't have time for this," Ash exclaimed tensely.

Tierno raised an eyebrow. "I've always got time to show you that I'm better than you, Ash," he responded.

Ash said nothing in response, but readied his own poké ball. Serena was sick of the arguing, and she was sick of not making progress. "Stay with Bonnie, Sylveon," she muttered.

The performer stepped with as much confidence as she used in a pokémon showcase and stepped between Ash and Tierno. "That's enough. I mean it. We have people and pokémon depending on us and we're here bickering. We're going to the manor. Eusine, lead the way. Now," she commanded.

Eusine smiled the first genuine smile Serena had ever seen on the man and began to move in the direction that would hopefully end up at their destination. One by one, people began to file out, even Sylveon, moving with Bonnie, until only Tierno, Ash, Serena and Jessie remained. Realizing that none of them intended to be the first to leave, Serena turned to them. "What's gotten into you two? I thought we were friends, and now you're constantly at each other's throats!" she said in exasperation.

Jessie snickered. "You know exactly why, twerpette," she teased.

Serena shook her head. "That has nothing to do with it," she spoke firmly, turning to the boys to get a real answer, only to see Tierno refusing to meet her gaze and Ash staring back at her with a completely oblivious expression.

Jessie sighed in content. "This is going to be a fun walk," she told nobody in particular.

Ash tilted his head. "What are we talking about? I just don't want anybody to be wrongfully accused of something," he explained.

Serena shook her head. "Later. I'll tell you later, Ash. Come on, I don't want to get left behind. You too, Tierno," she spoke, enticing the two boys to follow her.

The foursome caught up to the main body of people. As Serena moved to retrieve her pokémon from Bonnie, she noticed that the girl was still holding the key stone. "Bonnie, shouldn't you return that to Diantha?" she asked.

Bonnie thought about that, then shook her head. "Nah. It would be safer with Kathi Lee and her friends anyways. Besides, Squishy really likes it!" she exclaimed, opening her pack and dropping the key stone in to show Squishy immediately curling up around the gem.

Deciding to trust her friend, Serena thanked Bonnie for watching Sylveon for a moment and moved to Shauna to begin discussing their strategy moving forward. The trip, although it eventually carried everyone through forest paths that clearly existed only in Eusine's imagination, was rather dull. Tierno several times attempted to talk to Serena about his attitude, but was either politely shut down by her or rudely shut down by Bonnie, who had taken to walking with Sylveon and petting it. Clemont was the only other person really interacting with Serena when Shauna got distracted by Calem, with Ash and team rocket doing some strange sort of reminiscence about the past that made Serena question how close Ash really was to their foes. Calem made small talk with Trevor and Sawyer, keeping the two from arguing when he wasn't flirting with Shauna. It was a strange sort of peace, but peace nonetheless. Serena relished it. For the first time since she arrived in town, she almost felt normal, as if some of the people inside and outside the group weren't threatening her pokémon, her potential career, and her love life at the same time. This serenity drained when Eusine finally announced that they had arrived.

Before the group of friends and foes lay an extravagant two story manor, complete with a swimming pool, garden, and battlefield with its own personal healing machine. The manor itself was made of solid marble that had come to share its space with crawling ivy and overgrown weeds. While it certainly was a manor, it wasn't quite as impressive as some of the other royal houses Serena had visited on her travels. A sleek black helicopter sat on the large front lawn of the establishment, with a few men in black suits standing guard by it. As the group proceeded down the broken stone pathway to the house, Eusine turned around and began to walk backwards. "This used to be called Cinder Manor. Now it's considered taboo to even be around this place. When mentioned, people just call it taboo manor, which seems a bit contradictory to me, but it wasn't my decision. It was abandoned a few years ago for the second time, the first time being long ago when the first mayor of this town passed. It was restored by the town's most recent mayor before said mayor moved out to run a town in another region. I'd tell you why they call it taboo, but nobody likes spoilers," he explained like a tour guide.

Calem whistled in appreciation. "For an oldie, the place held up rather well if it really has been around for that long. Let's see if the doorbell works!" he spoke before rushing up past the open gate surrounding the home and towards the front door, Shauna's word of caution chasing after him.

The men in black started when they saw a man running past them on the lawn of the abandoned house, but they relaxed when they recognized Calem. "Only him..." muttered Shauna as her crush reached the doorbell and rang it twelve times in rapid succession.

Ash and the others paused at the gate, unsure if they would be as welcome as Calem with the memory of what had happened to them last time they came across a place occupied by the champion still fresh. Eusine, Sawyer, and team rocket remained in place to see what Ash and his group were going to do first. As Calem prepared to mash the doorbell again, the large oak doors moaned with age as they were forced open by Kathi Lee herself. Her bright countenance dimmed as she realized who was at the door, clearly indicating her expectance to see someone else. Serena strained to hear their conversation from the gate, to no avail. All she could see was some extravagant hand gestures from Calem, and a few evil looks at the man from Kathi Lee. Calem pointed towards the group, causing Kathi Lee to give Calem a look of disbelief before rushing over to the gate herself, leaving Calem standing on the front porch bemusedly. "Ash, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie. It's nice to see you all again. We always find Diantha an out of the way spot like this to rest away from the masses when on longer trips. I believe Calem blathered a statement about Diantha's key stone? Did something happen? She was supposed to check in with us hours ago," the secretary stated worriedly.

Glances were exchanged as nobody wanted to be the one to bear the grave news. Eusine pushed his way to the front. "Madam, my name is Eusine. We came because, to put it bluntly, Diantha is incapacitated as well as her gardevoir. We don't know who committed the crime, but a string of robberies occurred the same night and we are searching for the culprits in each crime that we believe to be connected in some way. The only reason we are here is because the card Diantha passed on as well as her key stone to an... associate of ours has now ended up in our hands, allowing us to give you this vital information and request your help in the hunt for the criminals. Rest assured Diantha is protected and in stable condition, but the poison acting on her is preventing her from waking. Does that adequately explain everything?" he asked politely.

Kathi Lee looked like a truck had just hit her. "Did you say... the champion is incapacitated?" she asked slowly, forming the words like she had a piece of gum stuck in her teeth.

Eusine sighed. "Why do I even bother explaining things nicely... why don't we go inside? Everyone can help clear up the confusion in there," he suggested.

The secretary still appeared despondent, but she managed a nod and led the others inside. The manor's interior was much more friendly and welcoming than Serena had expected, with modern amenities blending with the kind of rustic decorations that Serena's mom occasionally would buy and put up in their house to make it look like someone with no interior decorating skills lived there. Something about this off-setting choice calmed Serena rather than unnerving her. Even out here, she was reminded of home. They passed through several large rooms that appeared to be for entertaining guests and under a large indoor balcony that ran along the entire interior wall of the house before settling in a dining room with a high ceiling and three beautiful chandeliers dangling precariously over a large rectangular table. Everyone was seated by three of the men in black from before, two of which Serena recognized as the same ones from before. She ended up sitting between Tierno and Ash, across from Shauna and Calem. There was no food to be served, a fact Bonnie was all to happy to point out as everyone took turns recounting the last day's events from their own perspectives, forcing Calem to clear up several contradictions or remove opinions, mostly Tierno's. Team Rocket even managed to explain their mingling with the group in a sophisticated enough manner to allow Kathi Lee to call off the body guards from attacking them. By the time Kathi Lee managed to get a grasp on everything, she whipped out a notebook and flipped through it briefly. "I think I understand the situation now, so here's the protocol for this situation. At the first opportunity, I must go to confirm the condition of the champion. After that, I will provide whatever assistance I can to the effort to bring down whoever did this, preferably before they strike again. In addition, I will need the card and key stone Diantha provided your... AZ friend," she requested.

Bonnie gingerly detached the key stone from Squishy and handed it to Kathi Lee, while Tierno removed the card and passed it down to the secretary. As it made its way to her he spoke up, immediately causing everyone around him to tense up after some of the statements he had made in the last five minutes. "You know, Kathi Lee, I got that card from AZ myself. Isn't that right, Serena?" he asked expectantly.

Serena tilted her head at the trainer. "I'm fairly certain-" she began, only for Ash to cut her off.

"No, Tierno, Serena found it. Don't take credit for something you didn't do," he chastised.

Tierno looked irked. "I'm not doing that. I'm stating things the way they happened for our host's benefit. Do you have a problem with the truth, Ash?" he mocked.

Ash shook his head. "I have a problem with you taking credit for something Serena did," he responded simply.

"Guys-" Trevor began, only for Tierno to override him again.

"Really? Well I have a problem taking a trainer that can't even win eight badges seriously," he jeered.

Ash tilted his head downwards. "I just haven't had enough time-" he started.

"Don't even try that, Ketchum. Trevor and I have our badges. What's your excuse, huh?" Tierno demanded.

Ash said nothing as Tierno continued to insult him. Serena was awed at his resilience to criticism from such a crass source and disgusted and saddened by Tierno's actions towards his own friend. She also understood why Ash wasn't saying anything, because both her and Ash knew whose second place performance was really responsible for Ash's lagging in the battle department. Everyone else knew it too, most importantly Tierno, and he continued to push the envelope with Ash until he completely failed to get a reaction, forcing him to turn to Serena. "Alright then, if you won't admit it, then maybe Serena will. Go on, Serena," he urged.

"What are you talking about?" Serena asked with as much ignorance as she could pack into her voice.

"I'm asking you to help Ash out, since that's all you seem to care about doing. I just want you to admit that you're the reason Ash fai-" he spoke only to take his turn to be interrupted.

Ash had risen from his seat and had a poké ball clutched tightly in his hand. "Battle me, Tierno. Right here, right now."


	6. Chapter 6: Perspective

A soft, comforting breeze blew through the afternoon air, contradicting the intensity of the moment. Serena stood with Bonnie at the foot of the stairs leading from the backyard stone patio to the battlefield jutting out from the manor's back. Everyone else in their group had gathered around some part of the backyard to watch Ash and Tierno's battle, sans Clemont, who had decided to referee the proceedings upon deciding that the battle was inevitable. "I'll ask one more time: Would one of you please back out of this battle? We have far more important things to be doing right now," he pleaded.

Ash nodded. "I agree. That's why Tierno needs to see that provoking people and accusing them of things they didn't do is a bad idea."

Tierno scoffed. "Don't get uppity on me. You want to do this and so do I. Serena, watch me mop the floor with this kid!" he called out to Serena.

Serena wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. She gave Tierno an uncomfortable smile that Shauna noticed as she joined Bonnie and Serena at the foot of the stairs. "Focus on the battle, not harassing people, Tierno!" she called out.

Tierno looked irked but listened, refocusing on his opponent. Trevor, Calem and Sawyer stood slightly above the girls, leaning against the railing on the edge of the edge of the patio and discussing battle strategies. Serena was grateful that at least Trevor had worked to make some amends with Sawyer following his accusations. Jessie and James approached the guys while Ash and Tierno selected their pokémon. "Hey, nerdy twerp, where's your dumb notebook?" asked Jessie rudely.

Sawyer started and paled a bit. "Um... well... I'd rather just watch the battle this time," he insisted with no confidence.

James sighed. "Whatever. Come on, Jessie, you have your answer," he spoke, drawing the woman away before she could continue to interrogate Sawyer.

Kathi Lee stood by the door, mostly indifferent to the proceedings. Serena suspected she cared more about the key stone she had ordered the men in black, or rather Diantha's personal body guards to protect than the outcome of the battle. "Let them go at it already, Clemont! If they blow off steam maybe they'll actually cooperate!" Calem called out, likely responding to another attempt by Clemont to prevent the battle that Serena had missed while watching Kathi Lee.

Eusine shook his head. "That's not why they're really battling. We all know who really started this feud," he pointed out while staring directly at Serena.

Serena looked behind her as if there was some sort of invisible person Eusine was staring at instead of her. "Are you implying this is my fault?" Serena asked indignantly.

For once, Eusine had little to say and merely pointed to the battlefield with a knowing smile, "Watch and see," he stated simply, causing Calem to shake his head in general disappointment.

Ash took the initiative, summoning Talonflame from its poké ball. The powerful fire and flying type soared into the air, doing a few loops to celebrate the chance for a battle before stopping to hover a few feet above the ground in front of Ash. "Talon!" it cried.

Tierno smirked. "Raichu, let's get this party started!" he exclaimed, releasing his Raichu onto the field.

Serena didn't have to wonder why Tierno had chosen such a powerful electric type to deal with Ash's flying type. Clemont sighed and raised his arms. "This will be a three on three battle. Substitutions are allowed. If everyone is prepared, then let the battle begin!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms down.

"Talonflame, flame charge in the air, go!" exclaimed Ash.

Talonflame obeyed, soaring into the air, far out of reach for Raichu, and began to circle the sky, releasing several flame charges as it went. "Raichu, get ready! It's going to attack any second, so start moving!" he ordered.

Raichu responded by beginning to use the dancing style all of Tierno's pokémon knew, making themselves much more difficult to hit with unpredictable dance moves. Talonflame didn't really seem to be interested in approaching its opponent, though, continuing to circle overhead and release flame charges that hit nothing. After nearly thirty seconds, Tierno threw his hands up in frustration. "Fine, if you won't attack, we will! Raichu, dig!" he called out, causing the pokémon to stop dancing and immediately burrow into the ground.

With no target remaining on the battlefield, Ash decided to make his move. "Alright, Talonflame, wait for Raichu to emerge and then get ready to rush it." he spoke calmly, unlike his normal boisterous style.

Talonflame ended its circling and waited above the hole Raichu had exited for the pokémon to emerge elsewhere. Tierno smirked. "Now, Raichu!" he called out.

Ash reacted immediately. "Talonflame, move!" he yelled, giving Talonflame just enough time to fly away as a thunder attack shot out of the hole.

The pokémon was still nicked by the lightning, however, causing the bird to twist a bit in the air as it shook off the attack. Thankfully, Tierno's plan seemed to have mostly failed thanks to Talonflame's speed and Ash's quick reading of the situation. Raichu emerged from the hole and began to dance again on Tierno's orders. Ash took his turn to smirk. "Steel wing, Talonflame, and fast!" he exclaimed.

Talonflame shot at Raichu like a bullet, the ludicrous speed it had built up from running flame charge so many times catching both Tierno and Raichu by surprise, allowing the attack to easily connect and send Raichu flying across the arena, landing hard and getting up slowly. "Alright, shoot that thing down with a charge beam, Raichu!" Tierno ordered.

"It would appear this round is over," spoke Calem, drawing a look from everyone before the battle captured their attention again.

"Brave bird, straight through the attack, Talonflame!" Ash called with enthusiasm.

"Talonflame!" cried the pokémon as it enveloped itself in a blue flame before rushing towards the charge beam at full speed.

The two attacks collided in a spectacular display of fire and electricity, but it soon became clear which attack had more force behind it as Talonflame's blazing body began to beat back the beam of electricity. Tierno started to panic and looked like he wanted to call out a dodge, but if he did that even Serena realized he would only speed up Talonflame's attack by taking away the only beam slowing it down. Talonflame finally collided with its target to the melody of an explosion as the charge beam was suddenly cut off. Tierno sighed, while Ash looked up expectantly, Sure enough, Talonflame emerged from the smoky dust triumphantly, albeit with yellow and blue sparks now dancing around its body. Raichu lay unmoving on the ground, swirls replacing its eyes. Clemont raised his hand on Ash's side. "Raichu is unable to battle! Talonflame wins!" he exclaimed.

Serena was in disbelief. She knew of course that Ash enjoyed battling recklessly, but this was different. Even though Talonflame had basically ignored the damage from Raichu's attacks and taken down its foe with only two powerful blows, the pokémon really had no business continuing to fly in the air with all the damage it should have taken, at least from Serena's perspective. "Way to go, Ash!" Bonnie called out, uncaring to the logistics of the battle.

"I can't believe Talonflame made it through that so easily..." spoke Sawyer in awe.

Trevor shook his head, holding up a picture he had taken of Talonflame while the pokémon hovered in the air. "It's just acting like that attack didn't hurt. In reality, Ash should return his pokémon quickly before it faints if he wants to use it again," the photographer pointed out.

Ash, whether he actually heard Trevor or not, chose to return Talonflame. Serena noticed that Jessie and James had started arguing with Kathi Lee, but she couldn't tell about what, and the events in front of her again demanded her attention. "I'm impressed, Ash, but I'm not going to lose when the stakes are this high," Tierno declared.

Ash's battle posture faltered a bit at Tierno's claim. "What stakes? This is just a battle," he pointed out.

Tierno shook his head. "It's definitely not just a battle. Eusine told you already, didn't you, Eusine?" he called out to the man.

Eusine nodded empathetically before vaulting over the railing of the patio, landing next to Bonnie, Serena and Shauna and startling all three. "May I request knowledge of who you're rooting for in this bout, Serena?" he asked politely.

Serena quickly got over her scare. "And why exactly is that relevant?" she shot back, folding her arms.

Eusine smirked. "It's merely an exhibition match, as Ash stated. I'm just curious as to who you support for victory," he proclaimed innocently.

It was clear to Serena that Eusine had no intention of backing down, and everyone actually seemed to be waiting on her for a response. She sighed heavily. "If it will move things along, then I'm rooting for Ash," she admitted.

At this, Ash looked pleased while Tierno looked crestfallen. Shauna stepped between Eusine and Serena. "Alright, buddy, that's enough messing with my friend and this battle. Let's just get this over with," she ordered.

Bonnie added to this with the angriest look a young child could possibly provide. Eusine realized the others were about to chime in and quickly retreated with a bow to his position on the patio, but his damage had been done. Serena was thoroughly embarrassed at being forced to show her hand a bit, and even more so when Tierno suddenly bellowed out, "If that's how it is, then I'll just have to prove myself worthy of Serena with this next battle!"

Ash was still completely lost. "Tierno, what in the world are you talking about? Why are you bringing Serena into this? It's bothering her."

"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Tierno spoke, voice dripping with venom. "Blastoise, GO!" he roared, releasing his strongest pokémon onto the field.

Ash wordlessly returned the poké ball he was holding in his hand to his waist and selected another one instead. "I do my best to make sure everyone I travel with is happy, and that includes Serena," he responded with a quiet passion that Serena had never seen before. "Greninja, let's do this." Ash threw his chosen poké ball, bringing the number of final evolved forms of started water type pokémon on the field to two.

"You aren't doing well enough. Not for her," Tierno judged. "Blastoise, don't give it a chance! Skull bash!" he ordered as soon as Greninja had completely exited the poké ball.

Ash snapped to attention. "Double team, Greninja, now!" he called in a panic.

Thankfully, Greninja reacted to the threat immediately, duplicating itself until a multitude of greninjas covered the arena, leaving Blastoise swinging its head at nothing but air. Clemont turned angrily to Tierno. "Tierno! You can't attack before I start the battle! What is wrong with you?" he asked incredulously.

Tierno merely shrugged. "No harm was done, and the outcome will be the same regardless. I see no problem here," he spoke smugly.

Calem leaned forward a bit. "Now this is interesting."

Shauna turned and frowned angrily at her crush. "And just why are you endorsing this?" she demanded angrily.

"Because it's interesting," responded Calem with a shrug, inspiring Shauna to storm up the stairs to chew him out face to face.

Kathi Lee's argument continued while Trevor and Sawyer merely leaned in to watch better, Trevor with his camera at the ready. Bonnie gripped Sylveon in nervous anticipation. Clemont raised his arms. "Any further rule breaking from either side will result in a disqualification. This is your last warning. The battle between Greninja and Blastoise may now begin," he announced throwing his arms down again.

"Water shuriken, Greninja!" Ash ordered, not giving Tierno the chance to strike first again.

Tierno smirked. "Take it," he commanded.

Blastoise held its ground as the water projectiles flew directly at the pokémon. When they connected, Blastoise flinched and took a step backwards in order to hold its ground. Tierno scowled. He clearly hadn't expected the attack to be as powerful as it was. "Alright, get moving, Blastoise!" he instructed.

Ash stole Tierno's smirk. "Get in there with aerial ace, Greninja! Don't stop till you connect!"

Greninja darted at its foe with unprecedented speed, but Blastoise was prepared, moving around the arena with a strange grace for its bulk. As Greninja's arms started to glow white, Blastoise would move just unpredictably enough to dodge the attack, even withdrawing its limbs to avoid damage. It was as if Greninja was playing a whack-a-drillbur carnival game and failing to hit anything. Both trainers watched the exchange closely, waiting for an opening or a readable pattern to be exploited while their pokémon danced together. Eventually, Tierno seemed to catch something. "Blastoise, right arm, now!" he yelled as quickly as possible.

Blastoise responded by shooting out its right arm that it had just retracted, punching Greninja's attacking arm and throwing the frog off balance. "Now grab it!" Tierno called with elation.

"Greninja, get out of there, hurry!" Ash ordered, to no avail.

Still disoriented that its movement had been disrupted, Greninja was unable to react before Blastoise seized its foe with one clawed hand, holding Greninja aloft as it struggled to release itself. "Hydro cannon," spoke Tierno simply.

Blastoise fired the most powerful water type attack directly into Greninja's face, causing a tidal explosion to envelope the two. Serena waited in horror to see Greninja's battered body come flying out of the attack, but was even more surprised to see Blastoise had managed to hold on to Greninja after shooting a hydro cannon attack at such close range. Thankfully, Greninja appeared to be alright, if not a bit weakened. Ash pumped a fist in the air. "Alright, Greninja, Blastoise can't move immediately after using hydro cannon, so get out with aerial ace!" he commanded with gusto.

Greninja obeyed, pounding Blastiose with aerial ace attacks from its arms and legs. Instead of breaking free, however, Blastoise didn't even react to the attacks. "Keep flailing, Ash! Maybe you'll tickle Blastoise!" Tierno mocked.

Serena was even more confused. _What about those water shurikens?_ she wondered. "An act," spoke Calem, as if he could hear Serena's thoughts. "Blastoise pretended to be weaker than Greninja expected to get it to let its guard down, and the act worked."

Nobody understood this better than Tierno. "Another hydro cannon, Blastoise, when you're ready," he requested.

Despite Greninja's attacks all connecting, the pokémon failed to prevent itself from taking another hydro cannon to the face. When the battle became visible again, the two still remained in the same position, but Greninja was now very noticeably weaker. Ash was starting to look worried. "Fine then, get out with double team while it recovers!" he instructed.

Greninja responded with more success, disappearing from Blastoise's grasp and reappearing a multitude of times around the field. Ash pointed at Blastoise. "Alright, water shuriken, let's go!" he ordered.

Ash's pokémon fired a multitude of water shurikens at Blastoise that utterly failed to damage the pokémon as they had appeared to do before. Tierno grinned. "Freeze it, Blastoise," he commanded.

Blastoise, having regained its movement again, retreated into its shell and began to spin rapidly, firing out an ice beam from its cannons as it did so. The wild attack forced everyone, Tierno included, to step back a bit to avoid being hit by a stray attack. _He's being so ruthless just to win..._ Sylveon was smart enough to use protect to keep anything from harming Serena or Bonnie. The Greninja doubles weren't so fortunate, and one by one they disappeared under the unpredictable assault until the real greninja was hit by one of the wild beams and had a leg frozen to the ground, preventing it from moving. "Now, hydro cannon again, before it gets away!" Tierno called to stop his pokémon's reckless assault.

Blastoise immediately emerged from its shell to cock and fire another hydro cannon at Greninja. This one instantly broke the ice binding the pokémon and sent it flying right to the edge of the field after making direct contact with Greninja. Serena almost couldn't bring herself to watch Greninja struggle to get up. Even with Greninja's water type weakening the impact of each attack, the sheer force three times over and twice at close range was more than enough to bring Greninja to its knees. It sickened Serena. Greninja still appeared determined to fight in spite of all of this, and was on its knees, struggling to rise while Tierno stared at it bemusedly. "As soon as you're ready, give it another hydro cannon, Blastoise. Make sure Greninja knows EXCATLY why his trainer is too weak for him and for Serena," he ordered with uncontrolled anger.

"Greninja, are you alright?! Can you stand?" Ash asked frantically.

Greninja, by some miracle, managed to find its footing and gave Ash a thumbs up just in time for the pokémon to take another hydro cannon to the face. Instead of sending the pokémon flying, this attack made contact with Greninja's head, sending it smashing into the ground instead. The resulting debris from the impact gave Blastoise enough time to start moving again before anyone could even see what had happened to its foe. When they could, Blastoise was already standing triumphantly over an unmoving Greninja on the ground. Clemont raised his arm on Tierno's side. "Greninja is unable-"

"Hold it, Clemont!" interrupted Tierno. "This battle isn't over until I SAY it's over, and you haven't understood why you don't deserve Serena yet! Blastoise, put that thing in the ground!" he ordered with malice.

Several people gasped, Serena included. Trevor, Shauna and Sawyer looked a little intimidated at the sadistic nature Tierno had put on display, Kathi Lee and team rocket had stopped arguing, and Calem had merely frowned, although for what purpose Serena had no time to discern. Ash was in disbelief. "Tierno..." he muttered, his head down, as if he couldn't quite understand what was happening and didn't want to.

Before he could think to return Greninja, however, Blastoise had hoisted its fallen foe up like a rag doll and tossed it into the hole created by Raichu's dig attack. "Now finish it," ordered Tierno.

Serena couldn't take it anymore. "Tierno, stop, please!" she called out to no avail.

Blastoise sauntered up to the hole and fired yet another hydro cannon directly into it. By some cruel trick of fate Greninja was still conscious, and its feeble cries of pain resonated throughout the battlefield until a terrible silence took over. Serena was so distraught by the cruelty that she didn't notice Eusine until he was standing right behind her. After she jumped in reaction to his presence, he leaned over and whispered in her ear, "All of this is your fault, you know." He gestured towards the battle to make his point clear.

The statement broke Serena. She couldn't bear the thought of Tierno's cruelty or Ash's pain somehow being a result of her actions. She turned away from her mess and brushed past Eusine to make her way up the stairs. Clemont began to say something, but Serena no longer had a mind to listen to anything that was happening behind her. She moved between Kathi Lee and team rocket to get to the doors leading back inside the manor and entered. She could vaguely tell that she was rapidly passing between rooms, but her delirium and the tears welling up in her eyes made accurate vision nigh impossible. Eventually she found herself in one of the living rooms, the one that Kathi Lee had happened to choose to store the key stone in a display case in. Four body guards stood at attention surrounding the case in the middle of the room, and none of them reacted to the distressed girl entering the room. The only reason Serena had stopped was because the next door wasn't directly in front of her. As she looked for another room to storm into, her ears picked up the sound of footsteps behind her. She swung around to tell whoever it was off, only to hesitate when she realized it was Bonnie and Sylveon. Bonnie took a few nervous steps forward. "Serena? Are you alright? You can talk to me if you want to. I'm great at secrets," the young girl promised.

Serena didn't pick up on the irony and instead indulged in Bonnie's request with fervor. "Why did we have to bring Eusine with us, Bonnie?! He's done nothing but mess with me and my personal business since he joined us. He doesn't even care about trying to catch the criminal! He just wants to catch that dumb suicune," she ranted.

Bonnie frowned in tandem with Sylveon. "But Eusine knows the town better than we do, and he led us here. Do you really believe him when he says what happened out there is your fault?" she asked.

Serena began to refocus herself and wiped the water from her eyes. "Are you defending him?" she accused, ignoring the question.

Bonnie shook her head rapidly. "Of course not, Serena! You know I'm on your side, one hundred percent. I just think he's giving you a perspective on the situation you might not want to see," she explained.

Serena thought about that. _Is this really all because Tierno was flirting with me and I paid attention to Ash instead? but I can't shut one down without revealing my feelings for the other or vice versa, and that could ruin my friendship with Tierno, not to mention Trevor and Shauna..._ she mused. "What am I supposed to do then, Bonnie?" she asked in defeat.

Bonnie opened her mouth to reply, a hint of a smile playing on her face for the first time in the conversation, only for her face to contort in horror as she watched Sylveon suddenly go flying across the room from where it was standing next to her and into the wall. The pokémon struggled to get up, but ultimately failed to do so, having been felled by some unknown attack. "Sylveon!" cried Serena.

Both girls turned towards the center of the room, were two of the guards now stood over the unconscious bodies of their coworkers. A scizor stood next to the pair that Serena immediately recognized as the two guards that had harassed Serena and the others outside the restaurant yesterday. The one that had been hit by a door still bore a fading red mark on his face, while the larger guard was as intimidating as ever. The red mark guard sneered. "Don't try to run or anything, or your pet gets another bullet punch, and I've yet to meet a fairy type that can take two bullet punches from my scizor," he threatened.

Serena had only one thought in her mind. "You're the two guys from the restaurant," she said.

The red mark guard face palmed, only to yelp in pain as he slapped his own injury. "Oh, really? We hadn't noticed," he spoke sarcastically through gritted teeth.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bonnie asked angrily.

The larger guard shrugged. "We're just upping the ante, as we were paid to do. Nothing personal. Actually, scratch that, it is personal for my friend. That mark isn't going anywhere anytime soon, is it buddy?"

The marked guard scowled. "Shut up and knock them out already," he ordered.

The larger guard sighed and released a parasect. The two guards pulled out and put on gas masks, causing Serena to understand their plan. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much she or Bonnie could do about it. If they tried to run, Sylveon would be badly injured, and she couldn't guarantee its safety. If she returned the pokémon, they would probably just attack her instead, or worse, attack Bonnie. "Spore," instructed the larger guard to his pokémon.

The marked guard smashed the case holding the key stone as the sleep-inducing spores began to cover the room. Unable to withstand the effects of the parasect's attack, Serena slumped to the ground as alarms blared with urgency around her. _Ash... I'm sorry Ash. This is my fault._

* * *

Ash was distracted, which he was well aware was a suicidal thing to be in the middle of a battle. As his body gave commands to Greninja with all the gusto time and effort had conditioned it to, his mind was elsewhere, isolated in a myriad of emotions that he was having difficultly comprehending. He could feel passion, that much was clear, but he was unaware what he was feeling it for. He knew he was infuriated by Tierno's actions, but, for the first time in his life, he found himself questioning why he had started a pokémon battle. His body had even said that he had more important things to be doing, like finding Pikachu. _Pikachu..._ There was no way Ash was going to let his friends trouble themselves over his problem to solve, but having his first pokémon separated from him was extremely taxing. Maybe that was all this was, a mere reaction to the distress of a partner. While the idea was intriguing and held merit, Ash couldn't bring himself to believe it with all the times team rocket had taken Pikachu away from him for what was sometimes even longer periods of time than this. _Something else is very wrong here... I need to figure out what these feelings are._

"Greninja!" came a cry from Ash's pokémon that instantly snapped him out of auto-pilot.

"Greninja, are you alright!? Can you stand?" Ash asked frantically, chiding himself for allowing his pokémon to be injured so badly without him noticing.

Greninja gave its trainer a weak thumbs up before being smashed into the ground by a hydro cannon, sending a cloud of dirt up that Ash was forced to shield his face from. When he could see again, Greninja was on the ground and Blastoise stood over it triumphantly. Ash heard Clemont start to count Greninja out and he began to fumble for Greninja's poké ball. "Hold it, Clemont!" commanded Tierno.

Ash froze as if he had been given the order instead. "This battle isn't over until I SAY it's over, and you haven't understood why you don't deserve Serena yet! Blastoise, put that thing in the ground!" his opponent ordered with malice.

Disbelief came over Ash's face. He was so stunned by Tierno's ruination of the sanctity of the rules of battle that he could only mutter Tierno's name while Blastoise picked up Greninja and flung it into the hole that Raichu had created in the previous battle, when Ash's auto-pilot had done a much better job for him. The world began to shut itself down for Ash again and he lowered his head. What was happening simply couldn't be happening anymore. Blastoise wasn't firing upon Greninja again. Serena wasn't begging him to stop. Greninja wasn't crying out in agony any longer. Everything was quiet, and for once Ash was satisfied at that. He found himself adrift in his own subconscious once more, oblivious to the woes that didn't exist around him. Some withdrawn portion of him called out that this was wrong, that he wasn't acting like himself, that he should be taking more of a stand towards the invisible injustices in front of him, and Ash agreed, although he wasn't quite sure what could be done about it. He sat down on nothing, tired of floating on nothing. What he needed was quiet to think, something he realized while thinking that he didn't do enough of. But the voice wouldn't let him focus. It kept insisting that he act like himself, that he get up, continue on with boundless determination. Ash yelled at the voice to be quiet, but it wouldn't listen. It grew so insistent, so single-minded in its desires to see its will carried out, that the sound it made started to melt together in a single word, repeated over and over again.

 _Greninja. Greninja. Greninja. Greninja. Greninja._

Without rest, without cessation. It was unmistakable in Ash's mind. Greninja was trying to tell him to wake up. Ash looked up, towards the hole where Greninja supposedly was. When he did, he saw Serena, casting one single tortured look at him, turn away from the battle and rush up the stairs, into the manor. The voice began to shout now, with the force of all the passion Ash didn't understand behind it. The trainer felt his fists involuntarily clenching. No matter how he felt, whatever the current circumstances, Serena had been hurt. Passion mixed with rage at the one who had caused the pain, not only to Serena, but also to Greninja. Clemont raised his arm again. "Wait," called out Ash before Clemont could even say anything.

Clemont looked distraught. "Ash, let me end this before Greninja is seriously hurt, if it isn't already," he nearly begged.

Ash shook his head. Things were finally starting to make sense to him, and he seized upon the new clarity that this passion provided. "I can still hear Greninja's voice. It's calling to me. It's saying I can't just sit here and let you push me and my friends around any longer. I don't know why you made this about Serena, or why you have to battle me because of her. I do know that you've hurt Serena, you've hurt Greninja, and you've broken the rules of battle." The trainer swung his gaze around the arena, taking in the confusion and awe he was creating. "So I won't hold back anymore. I have a criminal to find."

With that, a powerful stream of water shot out of the hole like a geyser, sending Blastoise stumbling backwards in surprise. Leading the rushing torrent was a dark form that Ash knew was Greninja even before it had begun its ascent. The gushing water turned in mid air and altered course downward to land directly in front of Ash, twisting and morphing until it coalesced into the form of a large, sleek water shuriken on Greninja's back, the pokémon indeed having led the water itself. In addition to showing none of the weakness it had from the battle, Greninja had shifted in appearance. The sides of its head had changed in color from a pale tan to black with a red streak running on either side, while the fin on its head had also turned red. The pattern on its chest also had changed to resemble that of Ash's jacket. The new form of Greninja rose its full height and again gave Ash a thumbs up, this time with much more confidence. Ash immediately returned the thumbs up. The voice wasn't talking to him anymore, rather he and the voice had become one. He was awake again.

Clemont said nothing, but lowered his arm amidst his amazement. Speculation began to break out among Ash's friends over what was happening, but he wasn't paying attention to any of it. Tierno had gotten over his panic quickly and was attempting confidence. "It doesn't matter what stupid form you take, you aren't going to win! Ice beam Blastoise, full power!"

Blastoise cocked its cannon and fired an ice beam directly at Greninja. Ash knew exactly what Greninja wanted to do, and he agreed with it. "Dodge that and send it flying with aerial ace!" he instructed, miming an aerial ace with his own arms.

Greninja jumped swiftly over the ice beam, dodging it fluidly before flying across the ground with incredible speed, reaching Blastoise much faster than it could have in its previous form and using the power to send the starter flying into the air with an aerial ace. "After it, Greninja! Don't let it land!"

Tierno scowled. "Grab it again, Blastoise! Don't let it push you around like that!"

As both pokémon prepared to collide in mid-air, Ash suddenly changed from miming an aerial ace attack to miming a cut attack. Without a single sound uttered between them, Greninja switched from using aerial ace again to using cut, forcing Blastoise to grab a sharp blade instead of Greninja's arm. Having parried the grab, Greninja released its weapon and the cut evaporated, both pokémon landing on their feet just a few meters away from each other. Ash mimed grabbing a water shuriken and throwing it. "Water shuriken, Greninja! Make it strong!" he called out.

Greninja removed the water shuriken from its back and raised it over its head. The shuriken grew to several times its size before the attack was hurtled at Blastoise. "In your shell, Blastoise!" ordered Tierno.

Blastoise retreated just before the shuriken made contact with its body. Unlike Greninja's previous attempts, this attack sent Blastoise's shell skidding backwards on the ground a fair distance, and Blastoise could be heard groaning inside its shell, clearly having felt the attack. Tierno was starting to panic a bit. "Ice beam, Blastoise, and spin!"

Blastoise repeated the same process that had very nearly frozen Serena and Bonnie, forcing everyone, even Tierno, to shield themselves as ice beam attacks began to fly wildly around the battle field. Everyone that is, except for Ash and Greninja, who began to move in tandem, dodging the ice beams that came their way, ignoring those that didn't. For a moment, Ash was still. He knew that he and Greninja were just waiting for the right ice beam to use. When he saw it, he immediately alerted Greninja. "Now, Greninja! Ice water shuriken!"

Greninja again summoned its water shuriken from its back, this time throwing it in a wide arc to connect with one of the stray ice beams, freezing it and turning the attack into an ice water shuriken. The pointed star hit its mark, and Blastoise was send spinning out of control and into some trimmed bushes on the outskirts of the battle field. Clemont dashed over to see if the pokémon had fainted, only to quickly back off when he realized Blastoise was still very much conscious, if not close to vomiting from all the unexpected spinning. It hobbled to its feet and returned to its trainer, panting heavily. Ash could tell his foe was close to fainting, but he also knew that Greninja had been running on a nearly empty fuel supply since the second wind it got from transforming. He decided to take one final shot at diplomacy. "Tierno!" he yelled, getting the trainer's undivided attention. "Both of our pokémon are badly hurt. You know that. I don't want to push it from here if you agree. Let's just talk about this," he offered.

Tierno scoffed. "You're about to lose, so you attempt diplomacy? Pathetic. Destroy it, Blastoise, ice beam."

Both Ash and Greninja sighed before Ash mimed an aerial ace. "Make it quick, Greninja."

The pokémon readily obliged, again darting around the ice beam with enough force to send Blastoise flying. This time, however, Greninja didn't give Blastoise a chance to react and had slammed it over the head with another aerial ace in midair before it could react, sending the pokémon into its own personal crater in the ground. Ash's pokémon landed gracefully on the edge of its work while Blastoise finally gave in to the assault, falling unconscious. Clemont immediately raised his arm on Ash side. "Blastoise is unable to battle the winner is Greninja!" he spoke without pause to ensure that nobody interrupted him.

Ash wanted to be glad, proud, confused, anything, but he only felt tired. Whatever Greninja and he had just done, it had deeply exhausted his physical limits. Tierno returned his pokémon ruefully. "This isn't over, Ketchum. I still have one pokémon left," he warned.

Before he could even start to think about another round of battle, Calem stepped out onto the middle of the field. "Actually, I believe things should end here. The battle has been far less productive for you two than I had hoped. Can we all agree that this battle has no need to continue? Let's see hands," he invited.

Ash, despite his fatigue, immediately raised his hand, prompting Greninja to do the same. Clemont raised both hands to show that he wasn't declaring anyone the winner. Trevor, Shauna, Sawyer, Kathi Lee, and even Jessie and James raised their hands. Ash was glad that people were on his side, and distraught all over again at the reminder of Serena's absence. Eusine, along with Tierno, refused to raise their hands. While Ash understood Tierno's position, he turned to Eusine in befuddlement, as did everyone else. Eusine shrugged. "You saw what Ash did out there. If that battle is awakening this level of power within him, who are we to interfere?"

Nobody was willing to argue with that logic, but nobody was even less inclined to agree with it. Calem lowered his hand. "I'm sorry to say the reasoning doesn't matter greatly in this instance, as the democratic majority has ended the battle. That would make Ash the winner, would it not, Clemont?"

Clemont looked very uncomfortable about being dragged into the proceedings. "Well, yes, since he has more pokémon than Tierno remaining, I suppose that technically-"

"Great!" interrupted Calem. "Then let's get these pokémon healed and get back to work. As Ash said, we've a criminal to catch!"

With that, a white light enveloped Greninja and it reverted out of its current form and back to its normal one. Ash returned his friend with a thanks just in time to fall to his knees. Immediately Calem and Clemont rushed over to him, calling his name while the others came not far behind. Ash looked up at the concern in all of their faces and put on his best toothy grin. "I'm gonna be fine guys, don't worry. I just need to rest a bit after that battle. Clemont, can you take my pokémon to the healing machine?" he asked between breaths.

Clemont nodded wordlessly and took his two poké balls while Sawyer provided him with a bottle of water that he accepted gratefully. Tierno was the only one that hadn't moved, instead staring at the proceedings like they were some figment of his imagination. Shauna and Trevor took note of this and turned around after confirming that Ash would survive to chew Tierno out for his actions. Eusine pulled Jessie and James aside and began talking to them quietly. Only Kathi Lee, Sawyer and Calem remained. "Soooo, what was that?" Calem asked innocently.

Ash tilted his head from the ground in confusion for a moment before his eyes lit up with understanding of the focus of Calem's question. "The transformation? I'm... honestly not very sure myself. If I had to guess, I would assume it's some sort of bond that Greninja and I had. I felt like I knew what Greninja was saying, and I could even feel its movements while we fought together," he tried to explain.

Calem seemed perplexed, but Sawyer nodded. "Interesting. It almost sounds like mega evolution, but there's no stone involved. It's incredible!" he exclaimed, with more interest and enthusiasm Ash had seen out of the boy since he entered town.

As Calem and Sawyer began to discuss among themselves the details of the transformation Greninja had just gone under, Ash began to retreat into the private section of his mind again to ruminate on the same topic. _What did Greninja and I just do? It was as if we were completely in sync with one another. What does that even mean, being in sync with something? I've never done this with Pikachu. I wonder if you can do it with humans... no. That doesn't make sense. This feels like a sort of pokémon-person thing. It's not like this could work with Serena..._

 _Ash..._

The voice resonated in Ash's head loud and clear, with all the empathy he had received from Greninja. There was also no mistaking Serena's voice. Ash suddenly remembered the absence of his friend and rose to his feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that assaulted him and the insistence from those around him that he continue to rest. "I think Serena's in trouble..." he muttered to himself.

At that moment, alarms began to blare from inside the manor, causing Kathi Lee to whip around. "Someone's trying to steal the key stone!" she cried in distress.

Ash hadn't waited to hear Kathi Lee's explanation. As soon as he heard the alarms, he had bolted towards the manor, towards Serena's fading voice. He burst into the manor, the rest of his friends hot on his heels. The boy didn't remember exactly where the key stone had been stored by Kathi Lee, but he was fairly certain that if he just kept barging into rooms with no rhyme or reason, he would eventually come across the proper room of the crime. It took some work, but Ash eventually managed just that, throwing the door open to reveal Serena lying on the ground and the glass surrounding the key stone's display shattered. Sylveon had collapsed from exhaustion in one corner of the room. As soon as he entered, Ash began to feel light headed, and realized that a pokémon had spread some sort of spore or powder attack throughout the room. Kathi Lee came in right behind him and, upon coming to the same realization Ash had, summoned a pidgy and had it use gust after throwing a window open. The pidgy attacked, blowing all of the spores out of the room. Having regained his senses, Ash rushed over to Serena and leaned down to check on her. _Please don't be poison please don't be poison_ he pleaded silently as he turned the girl over.

Thankfully, she appeared only to be asleep. Ash sighed in massive relief. He brushed a few stray spores from the attack off of her face as everyone else entered the room, including several more body guards. Kathi Lee confirmed, a bit to her befuddlement, that the stone was exactly where she left it, while the body guards began to check the bodies of their fallen comrades. Trevor and Shauna rushed over to Sylveon, checking its injuries where it lied on the ground. Clemont was frantically calling for his sister with no response. Jessie and James sauntered around, discussing how the crime could have been pulled off with more efficiency, or, in Jessie's case, more flair. They also seemed to be chastising Kathi Lee, like the whole thing was somehow her fault. Ash wanted to lash out at them, but he immediately remembered what happened last time he challenged someone in anger. There was only one thing that really mattered right now, and that was taking care of Serena, making sure she didn't have to suffer any further because he tried to have a battle, no matter the reasoning. Calem kneeled down beside him looked at Ash. Ash tilted his head before he realized that Calem was silently asking permission to check Serena. Ash nodded without a sound and moved over. Calem held a hand to Serena's forehead and closely inspected one of the stray spores on her body for a moment. "Looks like a regular spore attack. She'll be out for a while, but she'll be fine. There isn't much we can do about it except make her comfortable."

Ash's decision was made."I'm going to watch over Serena until she wakes up," he announced to the room. "If you need my help I'll be upstairs."

Ash gently slid his arms under Serena and lifted her so that he was carrying her bridal style. Kathi Lee and the bodyguards ignored him, as did Clemont, Trevor and Shauna. Jessie and James glanced over with mild interest, but didn't attempt to do anything as Ash began to make his way upstairs upon giving his thanks to Calem, who responded with an understanding smile. Eusine, however, had no such inhibitions, and moved between Ash and the door. "You intend to simply remove a victim from a crime scene with no resistance? I think not. You of all people should know not to impede justice, Ash," he chided.

Ash shook his head. Strangely he felt calm. It helped having such conviction that he was right. "Justice is giving aid to my friend when she needs my help. I told you where I would be if you needed my help with anything."

Eusine clicked his tongue in disapproval. "I understand that, but you should know that everything would be much simpler if you would-"

"Cut it out," spoke Tierno suddenly, drawing Shauna's and Trevor's attention. "Let him take care of her. At least he's doing something."

Eusine badly looked like he wanted to argue, but quickly realized that he would have no allies and acquiesced with a bow. "My apologies, then. Carry on," he ordered with a swish of his cape.

Ash passed Eusine and paused by Tierno, who hadn't left the doorway and was leaning against the wall casually. "Go on, then. To the victor go the spoils," he spoke with clear distaste for his own statement.

As much as Ash wanted to retort, he stayed his commentary for when Serena didn't need his attention. He passed through several rooms until he found himself back in the entrance hallway, nearly crashing into Sawyer, who came flying into the same entry hallway through a door on the opposing side of the manor. "A-Ash! What are you doing here? What happened to Serena?" he asked incredulously.

Ash tilted his head. "What are you doing here, Sawyer? I was taking Serena to a bedroom to sleep off the spore attack she was hit with. Shouldn't you be helping the others?" he inquired.

Sawyer rubbed the back of his head nervously. "You see, I was about to do just that, but I wanted to make sure the criminals were actually gone and that we couldn't catch them. Yeah, that's it. Anyways, the nearest bedroom is the third door on the left upstairs, if that's your destination," he explained in a hurry. "Let me know when Serena wakes up!" he requested far too jovially before taking off in the direction Ash had come.

Shoving down the sinking inhibitions Sawyer was trying to foist upon him, Ash made his way upstairs using the grand staircase that commanded the attention of the room, following the lone hallway that expanded out from it. He took the third door on the left before the hallway could split on the pathways that Ash knew wound their way throughout the entire manor in the form of indoor bridges and balconies. One awkward shoving open of a door later, Ash found himself standing in a rather modest windowless bedroom. Several bookshelves, a nightstand, an oak chair, and a king size bed were the only furniture in the room to speak of. Ash crossed the small room quickly and laid Serena on the bed cautiously, as if she was made of glass. She continued to rest peacefully in spite of the activity that had been bustling around her and the rather rough trip Ash had taken to get her to a more comfortable location. It was intriguing to Ash, and he found himself standing there for almost a minute until he forced himself to look away. Staring wasn't helpful. He lifted the single chair in the room up and placed it down at Serena's bedside. Physically, she looked fine, but Ash still pined for something he could do to make her more comfortable, or even better, to wake her up faster.

 _Calem didn't say how long it would take Serena to wake up... what if she doesn't and Calem was wrong?! No, that's not right. Calm down, Ash. What is wrong with me? All these... emotions. Not to mention Greninja's transformation. It was much clearer this time, easier to see. Not that I ever needed to see it. I know exactly what Greninja's doing and what it wants to do in that form. Man, all this thinking is going to give me a headache. I can't do that when Serena needs me._

Having made that decision, Ash shoved his questions about his recent battle aside in order to prevent himself from becoming ill or distracting himself from being ready in case Serena awakened. Unfortunately, this choice also vacated him of any activity for him to participate in until Serena awoke. Instead of doing nothing, Ash decided to listen. He listened to Serena closely. He knew that he had heard her voice before the alarms blared. It was unmistakable, and very similar to what had happened between him and Greninja. If there was nothing he could do for Serena, he would listen to her until she called to him again.

 _I hope that doesn't mean Serena is going to transform like Greninja did. She's already perfect... whoa whoa whoa. What?_

Ash's thought train completely derailed with the free thinking that flowed through it. He wasn't sure what to think anymore, not when he was thinking ludicrous thoughts about transformations and perfection. Serena's hand chose that moment to flop off of her chest and dangle lifelessly from the bed. Ash seized the hand and began to gingerly return it to its place before he paused. Something about holding Serena's hand put him at ease. He retained his grip on his friend's hand, careful not to apply pressure to her injuries. Despite having nothing productive to do and doing nothing productive, Ash felt a solid content for his current position. Thoughts evaded him. Things were normal.

Time passed. Ash couldn't tell how much of it had fled over his head while he sat by Serena, but when the door to the room suddenly rattled with the sound of it being opened, time lost meaning. Ash tensed up, firmly gripping Hawlucha's poké ball in his free hand should the intruder be hostile. He immediately relaxed when the door swung open to reveal Clemont. The gym leader looked terrible, to the point where even Ash could tell. Water marks adorned his face, contrasting with the deep blue flames burning in his eyes. It was strange for Ash to see such emotion from his friend, to the point that he felt a little uncomfortable in his presence. "How is she?" he questioned tersely.

Ash looked at Serena. "Calem said she'd be fine. I wish she would wake up though..." he trailed off.

Clemont sighed in relief. "At least there's no permanent damage. Kathi Lee and Sawyer took the helicopter with the injured body guards to the nearest hospital, in disguise of course. Hopefully whoever they've sent for Diantha is already here, but even if he or she isn't, there isn't much we can do about it because of the champion's notoriety. I'm glad the police are watching over Diantha and not her own men. Calem and Kathi Lee deduced that the assailants were two body guards," he spoke without emotion.

Dedenne chose that moment to make its presence know to Ash, jumping out of Clemont's pocket and onto his shoulder. Ash tilted his head. "Why do you..." he started before the implications hit him. "Did they take her?"

Clemont turned away, and Ash immediately felt stupid for bringing it up. He started to apologize, but Clemont turned and shook his head to stop him. "That's the assumption we're running under right now. She would have no reason to leave on her own. Squishy is missing as well. I'm... scared for her, Ash," he admitted quietly.

Ash looked at Clemont, then at Dedenne resting on his shoulder, the little pokémon clearly confused at all the commotion going on around it. Ash couldn't help but imagine Pikachu in the pokémon. The reminder that his own pokémon was still missing haunted him. "I understand, Clemont. Really. I'm worried about Pikachu right now, and I know Serena is worried about her pokémon."

Clemont seemed to remember something with that statement, and rooted around in his other pocket until he came across two poké balls, which he handed to Ash. "Speaking of which, here's Talonflame and Greninja back. They've been healed. Sylveon is with Shauna getting similar treatment. It took a lot of damage, whatever it went through."

Ash accepted his pokémon gratefully and reminded himself that he at least had four of his pokémon with him. "Whoever is doing this acts like they have some personal vendetta against us," he said, only half-joking.

Clemont nodded, completely serious. "I have several working theories, but they can wait until Serena awakens. Finding Bonnie can't, so I've been working on this," he spoke, withdrawing the same remote Ash had seen him fiddling with and using ever since they'd been in the police station. "Ever since Pikachu and Serena's bag were taken, I've been acting on my trepidation and building something to track Bonnie in the event that she... well... you know. A long time ago she made me promise never to put a tracker on her for any reason, but this device I'm creating doesn't use a tracker at all! Instead, it picks up on other qualities, like her diminutive size, average body temperature, shape, and even the type of fabric in her clothing! You call it someone's aura, I call it science!" he boasted, shedding a bit of his sorrow. "This remote will control it all when it's complete. I repurposed it from the pokémon center with nurse Joy's permission."

Ash's eyes shone. "Wow! Science is so amazing!" he gushed.

Clemont beamed proudly under the praise. "Well, it isn't quite complete yet. The bulk of the machine was too large to be carried around, so I had to wait until we settled somewhere unoccupied to work on it, which happens to be here. I meant to spend a few days working on this larger portion when we had the time, but I was able to throw something together on short notice using the parts of several of the manor's computers. When complete, the machine should be able to provide direct instructions to finding Bonnie using the technology I've repurposed from this pokémon center equipment."

The techno babble was going right over Ash's head, but he was glad to see Clemont looking a bit more positive. "Can you track things besides Bonnie?" he asked, thinking of Pikachu.

Clemont pushed his glasses up on his face, giving them a glint that hid his eyes and hinted at the mad scientist in him. "Of course! You remember my Pikachu tracking machine, don't you?"

"The one that exploded?" Ash asked helpfully.

Clemont deadpanned a bit but nodded. "Yes. That one. The point is that I have an improved version, since I know that's your question. We can commence the use of that when Serena awakens." The scientist cast his gaze upon the sleeping performer, seemed to notice Ash's grip on her hand for the first time, and raised an eyebrow.

Ash realized he was being stared at and gingerly placed Serena's hand at her side on the bed. Clemont smiled at him. "She's going to be fine, Ash." He paused, seemingly debating whether or not to add something. "Also, make sure Serena knows what you did for her when she wakes up."

The boy frowned in confusion. "What, carrying her here? Why does it matter who did that?" he questioned.

Clemont returned Dedenne and the remote to his pockets and winked knowingly. "It matters because Serena will appreciate it. By the way, there are other people here to see Serena, just a heads up. Let me know when there's a new development!"

With that, Clemont was out the door before Ash could formulate a proper response to anything he said. He did process that he wasn't going to remain alone with Serena, and something about that bothered him. He marked it down as foot traffic making it difficult for Serena to properly rest. On that note, Shauna entered the room along with Sylveon. Sylveon appeared more dejected than Ash had ever seen Serena's pokémon, its feelers dragging on the ground pitifully. When it saw its trainer, Sylveon immediately dashed over and jumped up on the bed and curled up right next to her, sighing to itself as it did so. Shauna approached more cautiously, focusing on Ash rather than her close performing friend. "May I be with her for a moment?" she asked hesitantly, her voice catching a bit.

A wordless nod from Ash granted Shauna the access she wanted. Ash got out of the chair and moved to the side of the room to provide the two with a bit of privacy. He wasn't completely comfortable leaving Serena's side, but he trusted Shauna. Shauna began to whisper something quietly to Serena while Ash looked on. In a way, he realized, Serena was similar to Pikachu. Things just didn't feel right when one of the two was injured or missing. Not that he didn't care for his other friends and pokémon, but he found himself far more susceptible and therefore attentive to their conditions specifically. He filed the revelation under the rapidly growing list of discoveries he had made today. A minute or five passed, and Shauna rose from Serena's bedside. She turned quickly and walked directly up to Ash, standing right in his face. "You," she spat, pointing a finger in his face. "I hope you learn something from this. You need to pay more attention to the people around you instead of rushing headlong into battles to solve everything. You and Tierno both." she warned.

Ash side stepped so he wasn't backed up against a wall. "Wait a minute. What's wrong with battling? It's what I do as a trainer," he pointed out.

Shauna sighed. "That's my point. The only thing you got out of what I just said was that battles are bad. Try to see the entire picture instead of the frame for once."

"You've lost me."

"Think of it like this, then. Would you ever have a battle without paying attention to your pokémon?"

"Not on purpose, no."

"Then pretend the people around you are pokémon and you're constantly battling with them."

"Won't that mean I have to constantly be paying attention to how they feel?"

"It's a start, yes."

"That doesn't really sound like my thing. I usually only focus on one thing at a time."

"Then I suggest you expand your horizons a bit."

"How do I do that?"

"Start with her." Shauna pointed to the bed. "I'm not calling you completely ignorant. You care for your friends and pokémon. What you need to do is understand them."

"Why are you telling me to do this now?"

Shauna turned away and shrugged. "I... call it a favor. You don't have to listen to me. That being said, if anyone understands how Serena feels, it's me. And I know she would want me to tell you this, especially now."

"Well, if you're doing a favor for Serena, then thank you."

"I didn't say it was for Serena. I said she'd want me to tell you this."

"Isn't that what a favor is?"

"Yes."

"So you did her a favor."

"I would suppose so."

"Then why did you say you didn't do her a favor?"

"I didn't do it for Serena."

"Then who did you do it for?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"It's part of the favor."

"The one you did for Serena?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, thanks, I guess."

"Sure," answered Shauna, who made her way soundlessly to the door. "Oh, and this conversation never happened. Good luck. You'll need it."

She disappeared before Ash could finish understanding what was being said. He made his way back to Serena and sank into the chair. _Do I battle too much? Or did she say that I was just bad at paying attention to people? Why didn't she say it was a favor for Serena? What does the entire picture look like? I need to ask her about this. Better yet, I can ask Serena when she wakes up. She understands this kind of thing better than I do. Nothing makes sense anymore. Why can't I just trust my friends?!_

Ash punctuated his thoughts by pulling his cap off of his head and smashing it tightly in the fist he made with one hand. No sooner had he replaced the cap when his third visitor arrived. Ash didn't stand or move away respectfully for his next guest. Rather, he shifted himself more protectively towards Serena as Tierno strode into the room with a confident gait that was betrayed by his absolutely pitiful countenance. He paused at the foot of Serena's bed, staring at the spot in between Ash and Serena like there was something important there. Nobody moved except for time. "Ash. I need you to know that I'm really sorry for my actions out there earlier. It was cruel of me. I also didn't realize that you didn't really understand the root of our conflict, and I apologize for that too. Shauna and the others were right. We're friends, and we need to act like it. I was making a fight out of something beyond my control. It was childish. I can only ask for forgiveness I don't deserve," he spoke with a bowed head.

Ash was flabbergasted. After the way Tierno had acted, the last thing he had expected was an apology. This didn't stop him from being elated and relieved by Tierno's words. "Well, if you're sorry, then I can forgive you. I don't really understand why there has to be conflict between the three of us, so I'm glad you're willing to let go of it."

Tierno looked up, stars in his eyes. "Thank you, Ash. It means a lot to me. While I'm at it, you should know that I'm done accusing people unless it's blatantly obvious they're guilty. No more single photos or pieces of evidence for me. Trevor will be upset, but he'll come around."

Ash was even more relieved. "That's great to hear, Tierno. For the record, I would really like to have an official full battle with you some time," he offered.

Tierno smirked. "Then let's do so at the Kalos League. First, we need to find everyone's things so that you can get back on the road and earn that last badge. I need to apologize to Sawyer and a few other people. Watch over her for me, yeah? And... tell her what I said, alright?" he spoke with less confidence than before.

Ash understood the tone shift, but chose to ignore it in favor of preventing his rekindled friendship from immediately falling apart. "Yeah. Will do, man."

The two exchanged a thumbs up before Tierno left the room, the door closing with a sort of finality. Ash watched the door, waiting for it to let in another visitor, but minutes passed without a soul appearing. Ash returned his attention to the immobile Serena. "So many things just happened, Serena," he found himself speaking aloud.

Serena didn't respond. "Clemont seems to be making progress on his machine. Science really is amazing. Shauna said some weird things that I didn't understand. It had something to do with battles and understanding people, but I'm really at a loss with her real meaning. Hopefully you can help me out when you can hear what I'm saying. I made up with Tierno. That's good. I think he really feels bad. Hopefully you forgive him too. I don't know what the others are up to, but I think we're basically just waiting on you. Not to rush you or anything. Take your time waking up. I wouldn't want to rush you." He quieted, mimicking Serena's silence.

More time passed, or at least Ash assumed it did. He tried talking to Serena a few more times, but she never responded. He was wondering if night had fallen and was tempted to send Greninja out to check when Serena's hand suddenly began to twitch rapidly.

The trainer was tempted to take hold of Serena's hand again, but resisted the urge. It could be a sign that she was waking up, and he didn't want her to awaken with her hand in another person's hand. The twitching intensified until it looked more like grasping. Sylveon stood up and jumped off the bed, disturbed by the movements of its trainer. Ash still didn't feel inclined to act. Serena's breath began to grow short and came in quick intervals. Sylveon looked worriedly at Ash, clearly expecting the boy to fix it. He responded with just as much helplessness as he felt. "Serena?" he asked cautiously, not sure if she was waking up or not.

Just as he leaned a bit closer to see if Serena was about to have a heart attack, she sat right up, her eyes flung open to reveal near-feral panic. Ash barely retracted his body in time to avoid her sudden spring, and even then was almost struck as she swung her head around the room deliriously, apparently looking for something in wordless horror. When she faced Ash, she paused, blinking. For an extremely brief second Ash wondered if another one of his friends was going to attack him. She proceeded to do the opposite, griping the boy in a tight hug. If a brain could short circuit, Ash's did in that moment. The only thing his body was able to do was return the gesture of affection as a display of courtesy. He tried to say something, but no words came out. Everything happening right now was too puzzling. He felt Serena shift around him and he loosened his grip a bit to look into her face. The delirium had cleared from her eyes, and she looked at him with a bit more recognition. As he racked his brain for something to say, Serena shoved him to the ground.

* * *

Serena woke up and proceeded to attack the nearest person she could find. She had some vague memory of being knocked out, and she knew that wherever she was it was probably dangerous. Her bleary, unclear vision made out a form on her left and she lunged at the apparition, determined to take it down and win her freedom for herself. She gripped her captor as tightly as she could, but he seemed immovable. She wasn't sure if the person in front of her was incredibly strong or if she was just extremely weak from the spore attack. She suspected the latter. She prepared to release the person and run away with whatever strength her legs had available to her when the unthinkable happened. The person wrapped his arms around much in the same way she had done to him. Now she was in trouble. The man, who she assumed was a man, had predicted her next move and was holding her in place. She was at a loss for moves. All her opportunities for escape were exhausted. The performer decided to at least face fate with dignity. She used her slowly returning strength to pull her head back and look in the face of the villain, expecting to see one of the body guard thugs from before. Instead, Serena was face-to-face with an incredibly confused looking Ash. Serena let out the most embarrassed eep she had ever uttered in her life and used the shock to push Ash away, sending him tumbling to the floor from the chair he was sitting on and her over the side of the bed she realized she was in, only to be caught by the feelers of Sylveon and returned to her position swiftly. Her face was more red than a sunset. "Ash! I'm so sorry! I thought you were one of those thugs that knocked me out!" she promised.

Ash sat up on the ground. "Your plan upon waking up was to hug the people who attacked you?" he asked.

If there was a shade of red deeper than what Serena already was, she turned that shade of red. "It wasn't supposed to be a hug!" she practically shouted. "I was trying to take you by surprise, that's all!" she insisted.

Ash frowned. "Well, it certainly took me by surprise. You're fine, by the way. We're in a room in the manor."

Serena looked around, her vision finally completely cleared, confirming Ash's words. She paused to give a hug to Sylveon on purpose, reassuring the pokémon of her health and thanking it for catching her. She also hesitated before facing Ash again. _What am I supposed to say to him now!? I probably ruined everything by hugging him on accident. This day clearly had to get worse for me._ "Serena?" came Ash's voice from behind her.

Dreading the worst, Serena turned slowly to face Ash's patient smile. "Yes?" she squeaked quietly.

"Before I tell you what happened, I want you to know that I don't hold what just happened against you or our friendship. We have too much to worry about without thinking about a misunderstanding," he spoke.

Serena couldn't help but exhale in relief. She should have known that Ash wouldn't even pause to question her motives for her actions, even when the truth she told him was stranger than the alternative. She thanked Ash silently for the first and what she felt would be the only time for his obliviousness. She was so grateful, in fact, that she forgot to stop her mouth from vocalizing one of the many questions circulating in her head. "Did you like the hug, Ash?"


	7. Chapter 7: Taking Sides

Sleeping was nice. When you were asleep, nobody could tell you to do things you didn't want to do, like eat vegetables, or clean up a camp site. As a bonus, you could dream about catching pokémon and being a trainer. Better yet, you could be a champion! It was for these reasons that Bonnie refused to open her eyes when she felt a gentle prodding in her side. "Five more minutes, Clemont..." she murmured groggily.

While that usually got rid of her annoying brother, the prodding refused to stop. Clemont's hand felt a lot softer than it normally was. She turned away from the intrusion into her dreams of grandeur and tried to escape back into slumber. The prodding ceased, and Bonnie was just starting to believe she had won when a sharp object of some sort pierced her back. The young girl's eyes flew open and she opened her mouth to scream, only to have a paw press itself over mouth before she could. _Paw?_ The last time she checked, Clemont didn't have paws, unless something went very wrong with one of his late night experiments. Disregarding that, she turned around to yell at whatever had just poked her and found herself face to face with Meowth of Team Rocket, the one that was supposed to be kidnapped, according to Jessie and James. The talking pokémon placed a paw on its own mouth to indicate that Bonnie should be quiet, and the girl nodded empathetically. Meowth sighed in relief and removed its paw. As soon as it did so, Bonnie lunged at the pokémon, tackling it to the ground. "What are you doing here, Meowth?! Why did you have to wake me up by poking me!? I was dreaming about pokémon training!" she complained, her voice steadily rising with every word.

Meowth flew into a panic as it tried to escape Bonnie's grip, with little success. "What do ya mean what am I doing here?! I'm a prisoner, da same as you, mini twerpette! And fer the love of the boss, would ya keep yer yap quiet!? You'll wake da guards!" the pokémon explained with the loudest whisper it could utilize.

The word prisoner triggered Bonnie's memory, and the time before she fell asleep rushed back to her, right up to being forced to sleep rather than actually going to bed herself. She turned around slowly. Her vision behind her was obscured by steel bars. On the other side of the small room she was only beginning to notice was a table with a laptop glowing blue that constituted the only light in the room. The door on the far side of the room was barred with several locks and wooden planks. Two mats were laid out on the floor and occupied by the two body guards that had attacked her and Serena. The cell she realized she was in was made completely out of concrete, while the room around them was wooden. Resting on the table next to the open laptop were several poké balls and Serena's bag. Seeing the bag reminded Bonnie of both Serena and her own lack of a bag. She felt a frantic pawing at her side and realized that she was now basically sitting on Meowth. For a moment, she entertained the idea of staying there, but having a pokémon at her side, even if it was evil, could be helpful. Bonnie stood up, allowing Meowth to do the same, breathing deeply to get some air back into its compressed lungs. "Is Serena here?" she asked quietly, partially to prevent the guards from awakening, partially because she knew she wouldn't like the answer.

To her shock and elation, Meowth shook its head. "You're da only twerp I've seen since being locked up in here. Those goons won't even give me da time of day, so I don't know what happened to your twerp friend. Her bag is still here, if dat helps." The pokémon pointed to Serena's bag, which Bonnie had taken note of but looked interested in so that Meowth would be more cooperative.

"Have you thought about escape?"

Meowth shook its head dismissively. "Not happening, twerpette. Especially with dat big lug hanging around here."

He shifted his point to a darker corner of the room, opposite the laptop's illumination. Bonnie squinted, and eventually made out a form leaning against a wall in the shadows. She took a step forward, trying to identify what Meowth was talking about, only to shrink back in abject horror as she recognized the blazekin that stood there. Her blood turned to ice and she fell backwards onto the ground, leading to Meowth scrutinizing her in confusion. "Twerpette? You look like ya saw a gastly. It's just a blazekin, but dat thing is gonna make leaving a heck of a-"

"That blazekin is evil," whispered Bonnie, interrupting Meowth's carefully planned dialogue that he had been waiting to use for over a day when someone finally joined him in his cell.

Meowth scoffed. "Come on now, twerpette. It's just a pokémon doing its job. All we have to-"

"No. I... it scares me," interrupted Bonnie once more. It felt strange admitting such a personal fear she had so recently developed to Meowth, of all pokémon, but she wasn't expecting to see the source of her inability to sleep last night so soon. She was even starting to fear the virtuous blazekin that the masked man Blazekin Man used to protect Lumiose City.

Meowth sighed. "It's not wrong ta be afraid, twerpette. Ya just need to-"

"No. Not interested." responded Bonnie, answering her companion's unasked question.

Meowth threw its paws in the air. "Would ya let me finish three lines before cutting me off!? It's bad enough I haven't been involved in any action up to this point, but now ya gotta take apart my speech?! This is why I never werk wit twerps!" Meowth had forgotten its own advice, and the raised volume of its outbreak of rage awoke the two napping guards.

"Well, look at that. She's awake," muttered the larger guard, who was immediately smacked over the head by the palm of the marked guard.

"Then do your job and put her under again, you dolt! This is what you get for telling us to sleep on the job!" he chastised.

The larger guard sighed, uttered something about how it was his friend's idea to take a nap, and released his parasect. Bonnie instinctively scooted backwards, but there was nowhere to run in the empty cell. Meowth shot her a murderous glare as the two were hit by spore, for the second time for Bonnie. The girl unwaveringly returned the stare of death. After all, everything that just happened was Meowth's fault.

* * *

The door to the bedroom Serena had rested in was closed by her own hand. She cast a sidelong glance at Ash, who was waiting expectantly for her to lead them back to the scene of the most recent crime. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about him now, and it didn't have anything to do with her accidental display of affection. Their chat over her second mistake upon waking up had settled that problem rather nicely in her opinion, at least for now. What bothered her was the fact that two sources were threating her to reveal even more feelings than she already had to him, and his countenance had changed dramatically just after spending time filling her in on the details of everything they had missed. Her crush had lost some of his exuberant energy and seemed to be taking things extremely seriously, like he was having a pokémon battle with the world. He also was much more attentive to Serena, which she could at least peg as a response to recent events. Unless Ash skipped over some massive detail, however, she lacked proper reasoning for all of his behavior. No, she was wrong. Something had been bothering Ash ever since she woke up. Either he wasn't telling her everything, which was a problem Shauna could easily remedy for her if need be, or he was lying to her, and Serena didn't even want to consider the implications of Ash lying. _He's way to oblivious to lie about something like this though... so what's the problem?_ The easy answer, she presumed, was the fact that their group was one member down. When she had found out Bonnie was gone, she wanted to curse whoever had cajoled the two guards to take the innocent child instead of her. She had shed more than a few tears in the last few minutes at the news. Ash had simply seemed grateful that she was still there, which dissuaded her from believing it was the root of Ash's demeanor shift. She cast a brief glance backwards at the boy trailing her, his face that of a hardened traveler rather than her friend. His expression did soften a bit when he realized she was looking at him, but only for an instant. She sighed and turned away as they made their way down the stairs. She figured that the sooner they found their friend and their pokémon, the sooner Ash would return to normal, and the sooner she could deal with Jessie and whoever stole her opportunity from her. The aching that had stuck with her as a reminder of everyone that was still missing was softened a bit not only by the comforting presence of her sylveon, but also by Shauna, who, upon Serena reentering the room she had fallen in, immediately stopped conversing with Calem, to the boy's chagrin, and ran over to her friend, hugging her tightly. "Serena! You're alright! I mean, Calem said you would be, but you're alright!"

Strenuous as the situation was, Serena was momentarily content to just see elation on someone's face, mundane as the reasoning for it was. It was the kind of contagious joy she fed off of, the sort of disease that made Serena want to get up and fight a hundred battles to achieve a goal. It was the sort of joy Ash was now failing to exude, the sore reminder ending Serena's high of happiness. Everyone else greeted Serena warmly, particularly Clemont and, strangely enough, Jessie, James and Eusine, all of whom expressed their deepest personal jubilations at her safety and health. Serena had to hold back a tart reply for all of them, sans James who actually sounded genuine to her for some reason. In any case, Calem held his hand up and waved everyone over, inviting them to circle around him, which they did without hesitation. "Alright. Every one of you, now that everyone is here, needs to-"

"Sawyer and Kathi Lee aren't here!" spoke Trevor, interrupting Calem.

"Right, now that everyone who needs to hear this is here," he began again, without any reaction to the interruption's effect on him registering in his neutral expression. "I thought it wise to make it clear what the point of our camaraderie was once more. I want all of us to be friends, but I understand that we have our rivalries and grudges, particularly among those who enjoy battling." He shot a glance at Ash and Tierno, standing next to each other.

"We also have those among us who enjoy stealing pokémon, but are so unfathomably bad at it that their presence is tolerated."

Serena had no idea Spike was even out of its poké ball until she saw it holding Jessie back from lunging at the trainer. The speed of such a large pokémon never failed to astonish her. Calem continued as if nothing was happening. "The point is that everyone has a reason to be here, and precious few of us are doing it out of the goodness in our hearts." Calem was staring directly at Shauna while he spoke, causing the girl to look away, blushing in embarrassment.

"So I'm not going to ask you to unite in friendship. I'm going to ask you to unite against injustice. Stealing possessions is wrong. Kidnapping young children is unforgivable, and demands immediate reckoning. That line, once crossed, is a point of no return. The law has been blackmailed into submission. The only people capable of stopping the person from getting away with what he or she is doing are standing in this room, because we are the only people with both the knowledge of the situation and the means necessary to influence it. That is a powerful combination of circumstances, so I'm going to ask that we respect the authority we wield, that we forget about our personal problems for the duration of the festival, and that we do not stop pursuing this criminal until he or she is dropped off at the police station in handcuffs. Are you with me?" Calem stepped out of the middle of the circle and placed his hand in the empty space he had created.

Clemont and Shauna both immediately put their hands in the middle, for obvious reasons. Serena exchanged a glance with Ash, and was immediately grateful to see a bit of the fire burning behind his gaze. the two of them put their hands in together, Ash's warm palm resting on top of Serena's open hand. Tierno also put his hand in, giving both Serena and Ash a sort of apologetic smile. Jessie and James put their hands in although Serena suspected it had something to do with the pokémon standing behind them. Trevor and Eusine, however, refused to participate. Calem raised an eyebrow at Trevor. "Aw, come on, Snap! That was at least a seven out of ten motivational speech! What's the problem?"

Trevor shook his head. "The problem is that you didn't mention that the real culprit you harp on is still very likely one of us or Sawyer." He folded his arms.

Calem sighed. "Well, duh. What kind of motivation would, 'I need you all to come together so that we can accuse each other of being terrible people who steal children' make? Come on, Snap, it's called showmanship. Purple over there gets it, don't you Purple?"

Eusine looked to the left and right of him before he realized that Calem was talking about him. "But of course. The speech was flamboyant and would receive a rather rudimentary score at best by my own standards, but it contained all the information it needed to. However, I sympathize with the photographer's decision. Trust is a valuable commodity not easily purchased, and certainly not with words alone."

"If you cannot find it within yourself to trust us, dig a bit deeper and try to count on us. We may not meet your standards as confidents, but I can personally promise that everyone who places their hand on top of mine is completely dedicated to finding the criminal who wronged us and our region, or ousting them if they lurk among us. In any case, I'm sure Suicune would appreciate all of the valor it would take for you to aid us in spite of your misgivings, particularly when you act in the best interest of peace," persuaded Calem.

Trevor silently put his hand in the middle with everyone else's, but few noticed, and those who did, like Serena and Clemont, paid the addition little mind as Eusine's face morphed into indignation. "You would bribe me to comingle with potential enemies of Suicune with the promise of fulfilling my calling in life? Absolutely deplorable... yet rather effective, I must admit. My knowledge of the area and people here is now that of the commonwealth's," the man conceded, placing his hand delicately on the top of the pile.

Calem beamed. "Isn't this much more pleasant? Putting aside our arguments and history for the good of everyone. I'm proud of us."

In spite of Calem's ultimatum, Serena could tell that the group wasn't fully committed to their promise of cooperation, particularly Jessie, James and Eusine. Still, they promised to help, which was a start. She decided to give them all one more chance, Tierno included, to earn her trust again. After all, if Calem could convince her to reconcile with those who wronged her, maybe he could convince those same people as well. "Now, hands out. My hand is getting tired and I couldn't think of something cool to shout," ordered Calem.

Everyone removed their hands anticlimactically and stood there, staring at each other and waiting for someone to provide direction. Clemont took it upon himself to do so, stepping over to one wall of the room and inviting the others to join him. Everyone gathered in a semi-circle around the inventor, looser than the one they had put their hands in for. Clemont shifted his glasses upwards into mad science mode and pulled back one of the drapes hanging from the large windows in the room to reveal a table upon which two devices sat. Both were small pads with digital screens that appeared to be some sort of town map-like device. One was adorned with various features of a pikachu, including a tail on its rectangular head and red cheeks that comprised the two buttons on the pad. The other was simply coated in a smooth lime green. Serena instantly knew what Clemont was showing off. "The future is now, thanks to science! Clemontic gear, on! I thought we would encounter a situation just like this, so I took the liberty of creating trackers for Pikachu and Squishy! I took what I learned from my original Pikachu tracking machine and condensed it into portable form. We can safely assume that at least one of these two missing pokémon has to be near our criminal, so we'll split up. Ash, Serena, Shauna, James, Eusine, you all are in charge for searching for Pikachu. Everyone else will look for Squishy besides myself. I will wait here to explain things to Sawyer and Kathi Lee when they return. Questions?" he asked.

"Why does the twerp get to pick whose side everyone is on?" complained Jessie.

Clemont cast her a sidelong glance. "You can't go with James because you need a reason not to run off with Pikachu or Squishy as soon as you find it."

Jessie shrugged. "Fair point," she conceded.

"What about your device to track Bonnie?" Ash asked.

Several people turned to Ash quizzically, having not heard of such a machine. Clemont's head fell and he looked a bit crestfallen. "Ash, I said it wasn't ready yet. I still need some time to perfect it."

Ash blushed in embarrassment. Serena sighed. She wished Ash had noticed that Clemont had deliberately avoided saying anything about his sister. Assuming his devices worked, they might not even need such a machine as a Bonnie tracker. Of course, that was assuming Clemont's machines worked, which was a rather large leap in logic. Clemont set about showing Ash and Calem how to use the devices so they could lead their respective groups. As they spoke, the others got into their respective teams, sans Serena herself, who wanted to wait for Ash, and Tierno, who approached Serena. Nobody was looking at the two directly, but Serena could tell everyone was paying attention to her and Tierno, and she felt embarrassed. Tierno felt it to, and stood up a bit straighter. Instead of saying anything or letting silence deepen the problem, Tierno held out his hand for a handshake confidently. Serena stared at the appendage like it was a pokémon she had never seen before. Ash had told her what Tierno had said in her slumber, but she had had a difficult time believing him. Staring at his outstretched hand now, she wondered to herself how he intended to use this peace to somehow prove himself worthy of her. At this point, Serena was the one making things awkward, so she forced herself to speak. "Why?"

"Because I was wrong," he replied. "What I did and said was wrong, and I don't want that to be who I am. You don't have to give me another chance."

Serena considered the offer in front of her a moment longer before taking it, shaking Tierno's hand firmly, meeting his eyes unwaveringly. "If you mean that, then I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't forgive you. Prove it to me by helping the others and I find our friends."

Tierno nodded empathetically. "Thank you. I won't ever let you down again."

Serena didn't feel that comment deserved acknowledgement, and informed Tierno of her waiting for Ash, which he betrayed no surprise of, and joined her search party while Clemont's explanation continued. Serena realized that, with the way Clemont had arranged things, nearly everyone in her group had caused her grief over the last twenty-four hours on some form, with the exception of James. The problem with Shauna was that she was clearly peeved about being separated from Calem again, and Serena still didn't know what was wrong with Ash. She couldn't completely trust in Tierno again, not yet. As she mulled over the situation, she realized both Calem and Ash were standing in front of her. "Oh, hi. Did Clemont explain the devices?" she asked.

Ash nodded. "Science is so amazing! He made it possible for even me to understand how to use this thing. We'll find my buddy in no time with this thing!" he announced proudly.

Calem chuckled. "Excellent. My group will do its best to locate your Squishy, and, as I'm sure Clemont is hoping for, Bonnie. We will reconvene before dark."

Ash and Serena nodded and turned to leave, but Calem stopped them. "Sorry, one more thing. If you should happen to run into that mega blazekin that assaulted you... do me a favor and give my friend here some action." he beckoned behind him, and Spike came sauntering over to stand by its trainer. "It's been a long time since Spike had a real challenge, no offense, and a powerful fire type like that would be perfect for training. Would you help a trainer out?"

Ash grinned, and Serena found herself smiling as well. As terrible an idea as it was on paper, Calem's Chesnaught was no ordinary pokémon. "Fantastic, thank you Calem," thanked Serena gratefully.

Calem motioned to Spike, and the pokémon lumbered over to Ash's group, much to the dismay of James. The trainer himself met up with his own group and prepared them to travel into the late afternoon forest. Serena began to make her way to her own group, but Ash stopped her one more time. He looked extremely anxious. For a moment Serena was terrified that he was rethinking what he had said after she had woken up, but no such words left his mouth. "Serena... actually, maybe now isn't the time. We don't have a lot of daylight left. Can you remind me to speak to you after the sun sets?" he requested ominously.

A million possibilities ran through Serena's mind, and only about 5% of them ended positively. "Sure. No problem." Her voice was indifferent, but then again performing had taught Serena to remain calm, even when things felt like they were falling apart.

Ash grinned like he had won a pokémon battle and led the two of them to their group of five and two pokémon. The screen of the device Ash was given had a grid on it that displayed a single yellow blip in the distance, as well as a green blip. Ash explained that the green blip was them, and that the yellow blip was supposed to be Pikachu, or at least an extremely similar energy signature. There were no other details on the map except for a compass and the two buttons, which Ash admitted just toggled the volume of the machine and turned the device on and off again. Aside from herself, Shauna appeared to be the only one interested in the trinket, with James and Eusine standing pensively off to the side. Serena looked at the two and sighed heavily. It was going to be a long walk.

The group set out shortly after grabbing what few things they hadn't already held on their person. Ash explained that the signal the machine had picked up was only thirty minutes of walking away at most, giving Serena new determination. She watched Calem's group head off in the opposite direction of themselves, a clear indicator that Clemont had either done something very wrong, the criminal had multiple hideouts, there really were two criminals, or... Serena realized the different locations could mean just as many things as the strange statement Ash had made to her before they left. To push it out of her mind, she conversed with Shauna, getting her friend's detailing of the events that happened while she was out and Ash was with her. Ash himself chipped in from time to time, but for the most part he remained glued to his device. Only with this behavior did it suddenly become clear to Serena that this was Ash's greatest and most real chance of finding Pikachu since the two had been separated. Silently she sent her hopes and wishes out for him and forgave some of his reclusiveness. Eusine, on the other hand, received no such sympathy as he spoke extensively on the intricacies of tracking and how, if they were allowed to search themselves instead of in groups because they were cooperating, they would cover more ground and alert fewer watching eyes and every other reason on the planet that their current plan was atrocious. James, having nobody or thing to hide with, was forced to endure the brunt of this ranting. Serena felt legitimately bad for the man, even more so as she remembered that he had to put up with Jessie on a consistent basis. Even Sylveon was walking calmly with Spike, making Serena grateful that her pokémon was feeling comfortable enough to not have the impulse to remain at her side. Just as James appeared ready to slug Eusine so hard he would go flying back to the mansion, a fate Serena could secretly appreciate, the yellow blip on Ash's device began to chirp with the alert of proximity. Ash quieted the machine and motioned everyone forward through the woods, indicating that they be silent. A bit of excited anticipation shone through his demeanor, giving Serena hope for him and his success. The group made their way forward as stealthily as they could until the green dot that was them practically stood on top of the yellow dot. Serena and the others glanced around in confusion. Pikachu was supposed to be right in the middle of where they were standing. Ash glanced around, mimicking everyone else's confusion. "Pikachu?" he called out quietly, unsure if he wanted to disturb the environment or not.

Silence dominated. Then, a yellow tail appeared in one of the trees. "Pika?" came the curious reply.

Serena started to smile, but faltered when she realized that neither Ash nor James were smiling. Another tail appeared in a nearby tree. "Pika?"

"Pikachu pika?"

"Pikachu."

"Pika pi!"

The cries went up in multiple trees surrounding the group, and soon Ash and the others found themselves standing in the midst of a veritable hoard of pikachu, the yellow mice all having jumped into the trees at the sound of the group's approach. Curiosity had clearly bested their survival instinct, however, as several pikachu cautiously crept out of the trees to examine their visitors. "None of them are your pikachu, Ash," declared James. "There appears to be about fifteen or twenty of them. More than enough to scramble even the best Pikachu tracking device that science twerp could put together. We'll never know if it actually works. Shame."

Serena turned in befuddlement to James, as did Shauna. The man shrugged. "If I received a promotion for every Pikachu tracking device that led us to a hoard of wild pikachu instead of the definite article, I'd be the boss nineteen times over. We got used to it after a while," he explained without much care.

Ash was clearly disappointed, but refused to lower his head again. Instead, he shut the tracker off and placed it in his pocket. "Tell me something, James. You could have captured these hoards of pikachu whenever you wanted. It's not even illegal. Why chase mine? Why not catch your own pokémon, like everyone else?"

James dug into his pocket and pulled out some pokémon food. he held it out in an open palm and nearly immediately a pikachu abandoned its perch to rest on Jame's arm, eating the gift quietly. "Even bums like us are entitled to a few possessions, twerp. An example would be our secrets. Just keep in mind that some of us aren't as interested in wealth or power as we may claim to be. " He spoke with a quiet dignity that blew Serena away. It was almost as if he was some sort of noble rather than a criminal.

Ash seemed a but crestfallen, but nodded in acceptance. "Well, tracker or no tracker, we're going to find Pikachu. We can't give up until it's over, right Serena?"

Serena immediately brightened at the use of the line that had stuck with Serena ever since he uttered it to her in their childhood. "Right," she affirmed with more mirth than she had felt all day.

This happiness inspired Eusine to start speaking. "That plan will lead to certain failure," he promised.

James rolled his eyes. "Did you have a better plan, Mr. Pompous?"

Eusine stepped into the obvious view of everyone, including the pikachu, and James eyed him suspiciously. "I was being sarcastic."

"What's wrong with not wanting to give up? It's a good motto," defended Shauna, earning her a grateful look from Serena.

Eusine wagged his finger. "That's just it. It's a motto, not a plan. Look at us. WILLINGLY acknowledging that we keep secrets and choosing to ignore them." As he began to speak, Serena noticed for the first time the grey clouds in the sky that seemed to promise rain rolling steadily towards them. She noted that they may need to cut their search short.

"I wouldn't have said anything, were it not for the terribly fragile structure our alliance is built on. I don't want to see us truly divide our resources, contrary to what you may think, but I refuse to remain silent when I see that something jeopardizes the possibility of my finding Suicune and obtaining it. The way our group is now, I will not succeed this year. We will bicker, argue, fight amongst ourselves, while the enemy leans back, and chortles heartily at the incompetence of his foes. If we are truly going to accomplish our goals here, we need to be honest with each other. All of you know exactly what I'm talking about." Eusine gave each one of his listeners a hard stare.

The only person who seemed to have no idea what was going on was Ash. Serena and Shauna exchanged a glance, both thinking similar things about Eusine's knowledge of their crushes. James held his stare with the speaker. "Pray tell, what secret could you possibly have that could affect the outcome of this search that has anything to do with team rocket?"

Eusine smirked. "I'm sure you remember our conversation from earlier. My offer remains on the table for your acceptance."

James seemed to falter a bit. He lowered his head. "We... aren't going to make that decision until we find Meowth."

"Take your time. The others will only grow more suspicious the longer the pact remains unrevealed," spoke Eusine with a shrug.

Everyone's eyes were on James, but James continued to stare at Eusine. "Your offer wouldn't cause any conflict at all if you hadn't mentioned it!"

Eusine shrugged again. "You asked what I had to hold over you, there it is. You wouldn't even have to worry about anything if you weren't at least considering taking it."

"Hold on," spoke Ash. "James, what did Eusine offer to you and Jessie?"

James turned away from his enemy and refused to say anything. Eusine beamed. "You see? This is exactly what I'm talking about. We all have things we'd never tell the others under normal circumstances, but the way we have ourselves arranged, something that isn't supposed to get out is bound to do so, and as a result our whole operation will be compromised, likely for something trivial, such as, oh, I don't know, a crush?"

The man didn't look at anybody in particular, but both Shauna and Serena paled. "If I wasn't completely confident that these secrets would come out in the most ruinous of ways, then I wouldn't say anything. My methods are purely preventative, to avoid unnecessary strife. Hence, I have been upfront about trying to catch Suicune as opposed to meeting it. I myself have spent years coming to terms with my personal desires to obtain such a magnificent creature, and the experience taught me much about the ruinous nature of secrets. SO, that all being said-"

"What's my secret?" interrupted Ash, his arms folded in confusion.

Eusine shook his head. "Your secret is irrelevant, Ash. What you know isn't even important enough to be considered a secret right now. No, your part in bringing us to screeching failure is being told the secrets of others at the most ludicrous times. In the interest of preventing that, I procured this." He reached into his pocket and glanced at Serena before removing his hand. "For the record, I did warn you and provide you with several hours to meet my request," he commented to her nearly absent-mindedly.

Serena began to put the pieces together, but realized she didn't have to when Eusine revealed her card from Palermo, holding it aloft like it was a poké ball. Shauna gasped, recognizing the card for its worth immediately. Ash and James appeared baffled. Serena didn't give them a chance to read it. "Sylveon, fairy wind!" she ordered, pointing directly at Eusine's hand.

Sylveon, having previously been standing next to Spike, reacted immediately to its trainer's order and send a fairy wind attack flying at Eusine, sending the man stumbling back and causing him to drop the card. Serena didn't have time to be grateful that her pokémon knew not to use its full power against a person. Instead, she burst forward with an outstretched hand, determined to snatch the card before Eusine could ruin her. Just as she thought she was about to reach her goal, the card disappeared and reappeared in Eusine's open palm. Serena stopped short and stared in disbelief. Eusine was a mixture of amused and disappointed. "Rather rude of you to attack me while I'm trying to make a point, I should say. Thank you, Alakazam."

Eusine's alakazam appeared next to Eusine, its expression unreadable. Serena stared at him in outrage. "You stole that card from me. Give it back," she demanded with barely controlled rage.

A smile played on Eusine's face. "I would gladly, if you would proceed to tell your friends what is written on it."

Serena paled. "Never. No way. You have no right to demand such a thing of me."

"Really? It doesn't say that on the card. Why won't you tell everyone what it says?" prompted Eusine.

Shauna, who had clearly been trying to figure out the same thing herself, suddenly gasped and whispered quietly to James. Ash remained dumbfounded while James himself frowned deeply. "That's low, Eusine," the man commented.

Eusine shrugged. "I'm not sure what you were expecting of me. I intend to obtain Suicune at any cost. If a few other dreams end along the way, so be it. Now, Serena, will it be you or me that breaks it to our friend?"

Shauna appeared ready to question how this had anything to do with finding Suicune, but Ash spoke up first. "Eusine, can you just give Serena that card back? It's obvious you took it from her, and we may not have a lot of time to continue searching if this rain blows in shortly."

There was something akin to exasperation in Ash's tone. Eusine ignored it. "The what may be obvious to everyone, but the why isn't. I will not return this belonging until my why is fulfilled. Do you understand, Serena?"

Shauna withdrew her own poké ball. "We could just take it from you, you know. It's four on one."

At that threat Eusine scowled and placed another hand on the card in a fashion that made it appear as if he was about to tear the card apart. "If there's one thing I know how to do, it's get rid of a card on short notice," he threatened ominously.

Serena almost lost control of herself again at that idea. It was bad enough that Eusine knew of her feelings. It was worse that he was deliberately trying to drive a wedge between her and Ash. "Stop. How does forcing this out do anything to bring our group closer together?" she questioned, vocalizing her thoughts.

"I said that I was acting in the best interests of the group so that we no longer fight for petty reasons. I can think of one member in particular who has found themselves in the center of much unnecessary drama. If said member were to leave because the wrong thing were said at the wrong time... well, we aren't in Kanto anymore. Things move quickly when they can, and faster when they shouldn't," he spoke, letting his implication trail off and sink into Serena's head.

In spite of Eusine's antagonism, the nearly guaranteed perpetuation of her secret offer thanks to Shauna and James, and the very real risk that Ash was about to be rudely awakened to the nature of her continued travels with him, Serena found it within herself to stare at Eusine defiantly. "Let's battle for the card then, if you wish me gone that badly. If you win, you can tell them exactly what it means. If I win, you have to give it back without saying anything. Is that fair?"

Eusine looked almost too elated at the terms. "Wonderful! I agree. Let's find a clearing." The man turned abruptly, his cape swishing behind him, and made his way into the forest, Alakazam trailing behind him.

James and Shauna began to speak hurriedly to each other. Sylveon looked at its trainer with a blank expression on its face. Serena gave the pokémon a pat on the head. "You're gonna have to be hope for both of us, friend," she muttered.

"Serena?"

Serena badly wanted to pretend she hadn't heard Ash's voice behind her, but there was no believable reason for her to have gone deaf in the last five seconds that she could think of. She turned slowly, for what she realized was the second time today. "Yes?"

"What does the card say? Why won't you tell any of us?" he questioned, sounding almost hurt.

Serena lowered her head. "I can't tell you, Ash. Shauna and James know why already. Eusine knows. Please, you have to trust me. If you knew, then... you would..." She could feel herself starting to break down, and she mentally slapped herself as a reminder that she had a battle to wage. "It's just like Eusine said. He thinks this operation would be better off without me, that I shouldn't be the one chasing after the person who took _my_ own pokémon, my own friends, the pokémon I trained with my unconditional affection and care. I have to prove him wrong, and in doing so prove that I'm strong enough to take back something that's mine on my own. He needs to know who the real problem is."

Shauna grinned at Serena, though her eyes still held the serious tone they had carried since Eusine began speaking. "No matter what, Serena, I'm behind you. Put that jerk in his place and get the card back."

Ash was still frowning. "But, if this is about Eusine treating you badly, we can just get rid of him after you get the card. Why can't you tell me what it says?"

Serena couldn't think of an answer that would both satisfy Ash and prevent her from telling the truth. "Ash, do you trust me?" she asked instead of answering.

Ash immediately nodded. "Of course. Completely."

"Then trust me when I say I can't tell you. Please. The time isn't right for this, and that's why Eusine brought it to your attention that the card even exists. Can you trust me?" Serena asked, praying desperately for some sort of understanding to grip Ash.

Ash tilted his head in contemplation. "... Alright. I don't like it, but I trust you, Serena."

Serena didn't smile, but she nodded gratefully and turned to follow Eusine. Shauna turned to Ash and spoke something to him quietly, causing the boy to seem to have an epiphany of some kind. The performer was very grateful that Shauna was on her side unequivocally. Although the same could be said for Ash, she couldn't speak to Ash on any matter that concerned her feelings for him, which was an admittedly large category in her mind. James matched Serena's pace as they followed Eusine into the woods. "So, the old lady offered you the chance of any performer's lifetime, and you didn't jump on it. Jessie would tear you apart for that chance, you know."

"Please don't tell him. It's bad enough three people know about it already. If this gets out, Ash will make me take the offer for sure." She felt pathetic, begging to a criminal, but if she was going to do so, James wasn't the worst one to appeal to.

"I wouldn't tell her. Meowth and I have enough trouble supporting her many careers and pilfering pokémon without adding another thing to constantly pursue. She couldn't use the card anyways, much as she may claim the contrary." James spoke without emotion.

Serena looked at him. "Thank you."

"Don't get used to it. I'm doing it for my team and Ash rather than you," he responded.

Serena tried not to find that disconcerting. "How long have you known Ash? He told me once that you've been chasing him since his journey began."

James nodded nostalgically. "That sounds accurate, yes, though that was years ago. I couldn't tell you how long exactly. Travelling the world can do that to someone. It's worth it though."

"Is Ash's pikachu really that special?" she asked him.

James paused, pondering this. "I think so. Meowth certainly thinks so. Jessie thinks so. Maybe it's a combination of that and, well, stubbornness."

Serena had a sneaking suspicion that he would have gone on had he been talking to someone else. "What about Jessie, then?"

James almost started, but composed himself. "What about her?"

"If you've been travelling with her that long, and, well, you're still at it together..."

"If you're looking for romantic advice, I have none to offer. You'll have to make that work yourself," said James firmly.

Serena sighed in defeat. At least he had promised not to tell anyone. "But, for what it's worth, we're all pulling for you. Just because we're your enemy doesn't mean we hate you, or can't cooperate with you. Go show that purple freak a thing or two for us," James added, as a sort of afterthought.

Serena looked up in shock. "Are you really saying that Jessie is pulling for me on something like this? She practically assaulted me back in town!"

"It's her way of helping," responded James indifferently. "She pushed you to say something about your crush to get you to have the courage to talk to Ash. It's a rather rude sort of help, but to Jessie it's help. She said something about owing you on a matter like this anyways."

Serena had no time to reply, as they had arrived in a clearing that Eusine had somehow managed to find. Ash and Shauna entered the clearing with Spike shortly afterwards, completing their group once again. Ash seemed distracted, but both he and Shauna smiled warmly at Serena when they saw her again. James took the place of the referee while Eusine and Serena faced each other on opposite sides of the clearing. "Since science twerp isn't here, I will referee this battle. I have experience," he announced, drawing a suspicious look from Ash that was ignored.

"This will be a one on one battle because Serena has only one pokémon to select. The winner takes possession of the card, as agreed upon by both parties. You may begin once you have sent out your pokémon and I begin the battle," spoke James in an official tone.

"You can do it, Serena!" called out Shauna.

"Yeah, beat him, Serena!" added Ash.

Eusine sighed and beckoned to Alakazam, which teleported onto the field. "You know, child, I have a fool proof plan that stops any attack dead in its tracks. You may want to think twice before-"

"His Alakazam knows disable!" interrupted Ash. "It can prevent Sylveon from using moves, so be careful!"

Serena smiled gratefully at Ash before turning back to her opponent, who was fuming. "That's quite enough commentary from the peanut gallery! Referee, throw that person out of the battle!" he insisted vehemently.

"I didn't hear anything," answered James with a bored shrug.

Eusine badly looked like he wanted to hurt something, and Serena realized she was about to battle him. She knelt down in front of Sylveon. "Sylveon... this is going to be tough. We don't do a lot of battling, but this is important. Just do your absolute best out there. I know you can do this," she spoke, petting her pokémon comfortingly.

"Sylv!" answered the pokémon with confidence, causing Serena to glow with the same aura.

The fairy type stepped out to meet Alakazam's challenge. James looked between the two and raised his arms. "Begin," he ordered, throwing them down again.

Hesitation wasn't an option. "Fairy wind, Sylveon!"

Sylveon sent the full force of its fairy wind attack directly at Alakazam. "Reflect, Alakazam," ordered Eusine.

Alakazam held up its spoons, and a bright wall of blue light appeared in front of the pokémon, creating a barrier between it and the attack. This barrier did absolutely nothing to prevent the fairy wind from flying at Alakazam and knocking it backwards a few meters. Even Serena was baffled that her attack worked. Eusine had acted like he was defending against the attack, but Alakazam looked like it was hurting from Sylveon's fairy wind. Ash slapped a palm to his head. "Reflect only defends against physical attacks, Eusine!" he called out.

Eusine had what had to be the most dumbfounded look that Serena had ever seen on a man's face, which was saying something considering the company she kept. He composed himself quickly. "I knew that. Of course I knew that. I battle all the time, of course I know that."

"Swift, Sylveon!" called Serena, trying to press her advantage.

Eusine's attention snapped back to the task at hand. "Psybeam, Alakazam."

The two pokémon launched their attacks, the stars and beam colliding in the center of their makeshift field, dissipating each other in an even clash. Eusine smirked. "Alright, disable it, Alakazam!"

Alakazam tossed its spoons in the air and crossed them before firing a red bolt of energy directly at Sylveon. Serena tried to tell Sylveon to dodge, but the attack came too quickly, and Sylveon was immobilized. "Sylveon, can you move?!" she asked in a panic.

Eusine shook his head. "Sylveon won't be going anywhere. Punish it with psybeam, Alakazam."

Alakazam again fired the beam of energy at the pokémon it had surrounded with a red glow. The beam made contact this time, and Sylveon, unable to even be sent flying backwards as a result of disable, took the entirety of the move full force. _Sylveon is stuck, and now it's being attacked... I have to focus. Sylveon is counting on me!_ As she gathered herself, Serena noticed that the glow around Sylveon had weakened a bit. _It must have to lower its concentration to fire the psybeam... that's our chance!_ Eusine snickered. "The least you could do is try to tell your pokémon to use a move. It's more fun when they struggle. Hit it again, Alakazam!"

As soon as the attack was fired, Serena made her move. "Focus, Sylveon! use double team to escape!"

For one terrifying moment it appeared that Sylveon wouldn't be strong enough to escape the grasp of the attack. Thankfully, when Alakazam's psybeam connected, the Sylveon it hit disappeared. Sylveon began to reappear everywhere, surrounding its foe with multiple copies of itself. Eusine twitched angrily. "Throw those doubles away, Alakazam! Confusion!"

Alakazam's eyes glowed blue and it began to encircle random Sylveons with the same glow, throwing them around the filed, only for them to disappear when they collided with the ground or each other. Serena knew she needed to act before Alakazam happened to find her real sylveon. "Alright, swift, Sylveon!"

One of the sylveons behind Alakazam suddenly fired a swift attack directly at the pokémon. Alakazam was too distracted to see the attack coming and react as Eusine ordered it to, and the pokémon was knocked over as the swift struck it in the back. "The real one is behind you! Disable it, Alakazam!"

Alakazam disappeared and reappeared in a standing position where it was, facing the real Sylveon. As soon as it tossed its spoons in the air, Serena reacted. "Not this time! Protect, Sylveon!'

A wondrous shield of green energy encapsulated Sylveon, causing the red bolt of disable to bounce off of it and dissipate harmlessly. Eusine scowled. "Psybeam as soon as it drops that protect!" he ordered.

Alakazam formed the source for a psybeam between its hands and waited for Sylveon to lower its guard. Serena didn't keep him in suspense. "Drop the protect and use double team again!"

Sylveon spoke its name in reply and dropped the protective barrier, prompting Alakazam to immediately send its psybeam attack flying at the pokémon, only for it to pass through another double harmlessly. "Hit them all! Don't stop!" ordered Eusine.

Alakazam whipped its psybeam around, eradicating doubles much more rapidly than before. Serena felt oddly calm. She knew what to do this time. "Fairy wind, Sylveon! Hit it before it finds you!"

Another Sylveon from behind Alakazam sent the powerful fairy wind attack flying at its foe. Alakazam found itself on the ground again, unable to locate Sylveon in time despite its increased speed in destroying doubles. "Hit the real one now! psybeam!"

"Protect!" responded Serena immediately.

Sylveon's barrier came up once more, its wonderful protection preventing the psybeam from connecting. As soon as the psybeam attack ended, Serena jumped on her chance. "Another double team!" she called.

Sylveon obeyed while Eusine smirked, observing all the doubles closely. "Repeating the same thing over and over isn't going to win you this bout, I'm afraid. Disable the one directly behind you, Alakazam," he requested of his pokémon calmly.

Alakazam closed its eyes and threw its spoons in the air once more. without turning around, the red energy bolt shot out of the crossed spoons and struck one of the Sylveons standing behind Alakazam, causing all of the other ones to disappear. Serena gasped. Eusine had found the real deal. "If you're trying to pull of a trick, know two simple things. One: misdirect your audience. Two: never try the same thing three times in a row. Patterns are dreadfully easy to spot," he taunted.

Serena gritted her teeth. There was little she could do until Eusine decided to attack, giving her the chance to slip away again. Eusine pointed at the fairy type. "Make this psybeam a good one, Alakazam. No missing this time."

Alakazam caught its spoons and turned to point them at Sylveon, firing the brilliant beam of psychic energy. "Get out of there Sylveon!" Serena yelled in trepidation.

Sylveon was unable to get out this time, Alakazam holding its grip far more firmly now. The attack battered Sylveon, and the pokémon cried out in pain. Serena tried not to let the dismay she felt splash all over her face. Instead, she put on the same smile she would exude while performing. It might not have represented how she felt, but she knew it would put Sylveon at ease. "Come on, Sylveon, focus! I know you can get out of there!" she encouraged.

Instead of performing double team, however, Sylveon's eyes dimmed. It appeared to have lost knowledge of where it was and fired a swift attack in a random direction, the stars scattering uselessly in the air. Serena was shocked, but Eusine let out a hearty laugh. "It would appear your pokémon is thoroughly confused. Let's send it flying, Alakazam. No need to worry about a counter attack now. Confusion!"

Serena called desperately to Sylveon, trying to cajole it into responding, but Sylveon acted more like a wild pokémon than anything else, firing attacks randomly and calling out its name wildly. Alakazam released it from disable only to immediately exchange the red aura for a blue one as confusion took hold of Sylveon. Serena was horrified at the sight of her pokémon being slung around like a rag doll, firing attacks in all directions as it was tossed in the air and slammed down again. She wanted to just return Sylveon and spare it the pain, but a voice in her head reminded her of the stakes of the battle, and she decided not to give up. "Sylveon, please, if you can hear me, then you need to use Fairy wind on Alakazam, now!" she pleaded.

As it soared through the air, Sylveon seemed to have a brief moment of clarity, long enough for the pokémon to launch a fairy wind directly at Alakazam. Eusine's pokémon was completely unprepared for a counter attack and was blown backwards, landing on one knee and breathing heavily. Sylveon was released from the confusion attack and dropped to the ground unceremoniously, also breathing heavily, but still standing as well. Eusine shrugged. "Well, look at that, you got lucky. It's not going to save you when I finish this game of ours. Disable, Alakazam!" He swept a hand out arrogantly to indicate his point.

Serena realized this could very well be their final exchange, with both pokémon running low on steam. "We aren't giving up until it's over. Protect, Sylveon!" she called, hoping against hope that the pokémon would hear her.

Fortunately, Sylveon found enough clarity to form the saving barrier it needed to spare it from disable. Eusine tsked. "You can't hide forever, any you can't survive on lucky attacks. I would expedite the process and surrender if I was you. Protect won't activate twice in a row."

Serena didn't falter. She just needed to hold out until the confusion wore off. The only way to do that without getting hit was to wait behind a protect barrier. As soon as both moves ended, Eusine snapped his fingers. "It's been fun, but our time is up. You have much to answer for. Alakazam, psybeam! No more theatrics, full power!" He swept his hands outward, as if to invite an invisible audience to cheer behind him.

Serena closed her eyes. Double team was unreliable and having a bunch of confused Sylveons running around was asking for problems. Attacking was even riskier. She took a deep breath. "Protect our dream, Sylveon," she uttered, barely above a whisper, just loud enough for Sylveon to hear.

It didn't really matter if Sylveon heard or not, Serena realized. If her friend could still understand her, it would know what she wanted it to do in this situation. She had essentially resigned herself to failure with this plan, but she didn't feel she had another option. The performer closed her eyes and waited to hear her pokémon cry out in pain, only to throw them open again as she heard the unmistakable fizzing of the attack being destroyed by another protect barrier. Sylveon turned back to its trainer and winked in understanding. Serena wanted to jump for joy. The confusion had worn off. Eusine was dumbfounded. "That... that isn't fair. Why is it always you, huh!? Why are you the one who gets to be the lucky one!? Who told fortune to bless you and curse me when I, by any and all accounts, deserve this victory far more than you, whelp?! I won't stand for this! Don't stop attacking, Alakazam! Destroy it as soon as it drops that stupid shield!" Eusine had completely abandoned his dignified composure and was now behaving borderline insane.

Serena sighed to herself. She would get one more shot. "When that barrier falls, Sylveon, give it everything you've got with a swift attack. Hold nothing back." _for the sake of everything I've ever fought for._ she added silently.

The barrier fell, and Sylveon instantly shot out a swift attack, colliding with the psybeam that had refused to cease pounding against the second protect. This time, instead of canceling each other out, the attacks caused an explosion right in front of where Sylveon was standing. Stars continued to fly out of the smoke, some of which made contact with Alakazam, but the psychic type continued to attack. Eventually, the stars began to fly out in fewer and fewer numbers, to the point where Alakazam was shooting into a brown dust cloud with no resistance. Finally, mercifully, the attack ended. Everyone stared at the cloud, most of them hoping against hope that Sylveon hadn't succumbed to the attack. before they could get a clear view, however, Alakazam moaned and dropped to the ground, the combination of the swift attacks and holding a psybeam for so long exceeding its physical and mental limits and rendering it unconscious. The dust finally cleared in that moment to reveal that Sylveon had indeed fainted. James looked between the two pokémon in befuddlement. Eusine spoke up. "Well? It's obvious that I won. Her pokémon stopped attacking before mine, so it must have fallen unconscious first," he reasoned angrily.

"You can't prove that! We saw your pokémon fall first!" argued Serena.

James frowned. "I... the rules say that I have to count the loser of the battle as the pokémon that I see is unable to battle first. Because the proximity of the collision of swift and psybeam to Sylveon, I cannot determine when it was knocked out, and have only your pokémon's fainting to go off of. However, I suppose I could call this as a tie..." he mused, uncertain of how to proceed.

Shauna booed. "You're a bad referee for someone with experience!" she haggled.

James snapped up in anger. "Oh, you try predicting an outcome like this! I'll have nothing further from the peanut gallery, or you'll all be thrown out. Now, what to do..." he mulled.

Eusine marched over to James and began arguing with him about the logistics of battle, while Serena tended to Sylveon. She knew she should be making her case to James, but her pokémon had to come first. She knelt down and held the fairy type carefully, gently coaxing it back into consciousness with petting and encouragement. When Sylveon awoke and realized it was done battling, Serena smiled at it. "You did well, Sylveon. you fought harder than you ever have before, and you should be proud. I can't thank you enough." She fumbled in her pocket for Sylveon's poké ball, only for the fairy type to mewl feebly in protest.

Serena sighed. "You're far too badly hurt to stay out of your poké ball, Sylveon. Please, I'll be fine, trust me.

As she tried to persuade her stubborn pokémon, Serena felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Ash standing over her, a berry in one hand. "This should keep Sylveon going until we get to the manor again." He held out what Serena recognized as an oran berry.

Serena accepted the gift gratefully and fed it to Sylveon. The pokémon immediately perked up, to the point where it managed to stand. She thanked Ash again and rose, making her way towards the arguing men in front of her with conviction. Sylveon trailed closely. She walked until she was standing between Eusine and James, faced the former, and held her hand out. "Give me the card."

Eusine chuckled. "Are you giving up? Splendid. I can stop entertaining this buffoon, then."

Serena shook her head, to indicate both that Eusine was wrong and that James shouldn't slug Eusine. "I'm asking you to return the card you stole. Not because one of us won that battle, but because it's the right thing to do."

Eusine raised an eyebrow. "The right thing to do, you say? You know I can blow your little secret to Ash whether I have the card on my person or not. You do understand that, right?" he asked.

"Give me my card back."

A sigh escaped Eusine's mouth. "I guess that's the closet to a yes you're going to give me. Fine then. Take your card." He held out the card, prompting the performer to snatch it swiftly before he could change his mind. "Just remember that my threat still stands."

The devious smirk faded from his face as Serena took on a confident smile of her own. "Not for long." Without explanation to anyone she turned, marched right up to Ash and stared directly into his confused eyes. "Ash, tell Sylveon and the others to go back to the house."

Ash tilted his head in confusion. "You want me to tell your pokémon and the others to do that? Why?"

The first drops of rain began to fall, splishing and splashing upon everyone and the ground. "Because they'll listen to you, and it's time we talked about a few things. Things we should have talked about a while ago."

Serena had no idea where she was getting the confidence to do and say what she was saying and doing right now, but she prayed it would hold out for her. Ash sighed. "Alright, if you're certain. You guys head back. Serena and I will join you shortly," he requested.

The only person seemingly not content to follow the order was Eusine, but without the card or Alakazam and four trainers and Spike staring him down angrily for his antics, he relented, although not without trying to threaten Serena again. Serena made a mental note to find a way to deal with Eusine that involved some sort of him never being in their group again. Sylveon really didn't want to go, but Serena told it she could be a while, that the pokémon needed to recover, Shauna could take care of it, and that Ash would be with her if danger reared its head. With all that, Sylveon relented, leaving the two alone in the clearing as the rain began its steady ascent from sprinkle to droplets. Ash finished seeing their group off and turned to Serena. "So, what's so important that the others can't be around to hear it?"

Serena took a deep breath. This was a moment she had half-hoped would never come, but she knew telling Ash herself was infinitely better than Eusine doing it. "Ash... I've been lying to you for a long time."


	8. Chapter 8: Runaway

Serena played with the bandages on her hands. They felt so... arbitrary. Her wounds didn't need to be protected. She had stopped feeling their sting since she woke up. Ironically, she mused, it might have been an unintended side effect of the rest she had gotten from being hit with a spore attack in the face. "You're going to agitate the wounds again," commented Ash.

 _You would know, wouldn't you?_ Serena ignored his advice. As long as she was focused on her hands, she wouldn't have to follow up on the statement she had just made. She hadn't meant to just oust herself as a liar, not when she only needed to explain her card to the boy. Said card was currently in her pocket, to prevent the rain from getting on it and nullifying all of her efforts. She was lucky, however, that the skies had decided to unleash their fury on the two right after her statement. It gave her an excuse to change the subject while they ran for the tree line to avoid the worst of the storm. The small alcove they had found happened to be shielded from most of the weather by the dense canopy above the two, allowing only a trickle of water to fall compared to the torrent surrounding them. They now sat across from each other, leaning against respective trees, close enough for Ash to offer a hand in aid. "Did you want me to take them off?" he offered.

The performer was tempted to decline, but the last thing she needed was to give Ash another reason to be suspicious of her. That in mind, Serena relented, holding out a hand to her crush. Ash gently removed the bandages, careful not to disturb the injury in case it was still raw. Fortunately, only a pink scar remained to be seen as the last wrapping was removed. A few scratch marks was much more preferable to bleeding lacerations. Encouraged by one hand, Serena offered up the other, and Ash removed the bandages from that hand as well. She gazed at her palms, happy to see them in their entirety again, ignoring the wounds. Ash smiled. "It looks like your hands are feeling better. I still wouldn't push them too hard for another day or so. We don't want them opening up again."

Serena nodded. Getting hurt would only impede her mission to find her pokémon and Bonnie. She looked up at Ash and realized he was staring at her expectantly. For a blissful second she forgot why he was looking at her like that, only to remember that she owed him an explanation. A sigh passed her lips. Ash was dense, but not so dense that she could get out of explaining herself. "Ash... you remember what you said to me when I asked you if you enjoyed that hug, right?" She turned her head away from the boy before she could see his reaction.

"Yes. I said it was nice. Not really my thing, but it was nice, I suppose. What does that have to do with anything?"

Serena's breath got caught in her throat. "I... enjoyed it as well." _If he's got to know about the card, you have to tell him why you haven't taken the offer yet. Use his courage! Don't give up! Do something other than sitting there!_ "I guess I was just thinking about that hug. Ever since it happened... no, even before it did, when I woke up, you've been different."

She still wasn't watching, but Serena assumed that Ash had just tilted his head in the sort of cute way he did when he was confused. "D-different? What are you talking about?" he stammered.

Suddenly terrified of offending her crush, Serena backpedaled. "I didn't mean it like that. You just seem distracted, is all. That's it." She silently chastised her nerve for abandoning her.

A sigh was heard. "No, you're right, Serena. After what happened during our battle, I realized something. I realized that I went on this journey to win the Kalos League and become a pokémon master. I accepted the dangers involved with open arms, as did my pokémon. They and I both knew the risks involved with travelling, either from being wild pokémon or after I explained it to them, and they still agreed to it. I realized, when I saw your unconscious body on the floor, that this isn't what you, Clemont or Bonnie signed up for. You want to be Kalos queen. Sure, that involves travelling, but only between large cities on known roads. I know the path to Snowbelle City is rarely used and full of dangerous pokémon. Clemont is a gym leader. If something were to happen to him, the entirety of the largest city in this region would suffer. And Bonnie..." his voice halted for a moment, before he continued, much more slowly. "Bonnie is just a kid. Far younger than we are. She has her entire pokémon training experience still in front of her." A pause. "Anything that happens to any of you on this journey is my responsibility alone. I've always known that, I guess, but when the only threat that comes back constantly is team rocket, you can get a little lazy. Then the people coming after squishy appeared, Bonnie went missing, and you could just as easily have disappeared. I started to ask myself... is it right of me to take you all with me?"

Serena decided to chance looking up. What she saw in Ash made her wish she hadn't. The boy had never had an emotional side for anything but food and pokémon. Now his face betrayed immense regret, the amber eyes glittering with sorrow. She almost couldn't bear to look at him, the random droplets of rain falling upon his cap and dripping across the front of his face making it look like the very sky was bawling for him. _I can't let him think like this. He's acting like me, doubting himself. I can help him. I have to help Ash. He needs a reminder of why I can't help but love him._ "Ash. Listen to me very carefully. Clemont is a gym leader. He knows the region better than most people and knows very well the rigors of being a traveler. If he didn't have confidence in both himself or you he wouldn't have left the gym to travel with you, let alone Bonnie. You shouldn't blame this on yourself, but you should have some of the faith that Clemont has in you in yourself and work to get Bonnie back." Ash removed his cap to prevent the dripping water from obscuring his vision. Serena took a deep breath and continued. "As for me... if I'm being honest, it's true that I had no idea what I was getting into when I joined you. I think you knew that already. I left my home undersupplied, unaware of basic survival skills, and without a proper goal other than seeing you again. Bonnie and I were even kidnapped by team rocket just a few days after deciding to join you. And I'm still here. I haven't left you, I didn't leave you the entire time I didn't have a goal, and I haven't left now that the master class competition is over. You aren't taking any of us with you, Ash. We're walking this journey with you because that's what we want to do. I couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing than travelling with you, performing, watching you battle, fighting dangers like team rocket, or just enjoying a laugh at the dinner table. I stayed with you because I loved this journey, Ash, and there's no chance you can convince me or anyone else to leave because you think it's too dangerous. It's our choice to risk our safety on this trip, and it's worth every second I can see the open sky over my head and have my friends matching my pace next to me." Serena paused to gauge Ash's reaction.

In a rare moment, Serena found herself unable to tell what Ash was thinking, a combination of her words still sinking in and the rain's ceaseless battering of their natural protection failing to provide completely adequate coverage and keep them dry being to blame. If there was one thing that truly bothered her, it was not knowing what was going on in Ash's head, particularly since he usually had only one of two things on his mind. It was even worse having suddenly lost her connection to Ash's emotions now, when she needed to be able to read him the most. He shook his head, scattering water droplets across the rapidly moistening ground. "Even though you chose this path yourself, I'm the one who caused you to want to walk it in the first place. Bonnie needs our help and I can't do anything to help her. What good am I if I can't even keep you and Bonnie safe when you're right near me?" His hand clenched into a soaked fist.

Serena didn't hesitate. "You don't know the impact you have on people, Ash. Right now, Bonnie is out there, silently counting down the seconds until her big brother and the trainer she idolizes come bursting in to free her. You have a knack for earning faith. People believe in you, Ash. No matter what happens, even when you don't win, you've never given up. As long as you never give up on your dream, we will never give up on you. You don't have to keep us safe constantly. We can handle ourselves most of the time. We know you're doing everything you can, and it's all I or anyone can ever ask you for, so don't get upset because someone's trying to beat us. Don't give up until it's over." She tried to put all of the powerful emphasis Ash always did into her last sentence, desperate to show Ash the same emotion that had pulled her away from the same doubts that had plagued her on a constant basis.

Ash turned his head to the side. Serena thought she saw a smile playing on his lips. "You're right, Serena. You always are about this stuff."

Serena was elated. "I learned how to be confident and how to not give up from you, Ash. It's the reason that moment in the woods from summer camp is one of my most precious memories."

Ash turned back to Serena, the familiar warmth beginning to return to his eyes. "I'm glad I could be a part of that then." The boy turned his gaze upward thoughtfully, watching the raindrops as they jumped from leaf to leaf, effectively muffling the fury of the nature around them, replacing it with a dull pattering. "You know, thinking about it, I guess I lied to you too, Serena."

Serena's blood froze. Ash hadn't budged, but Serena realized he still wore his traditional toothy, even nostalgic grin upon his face. "I asked you to join us because I felt bad for you," he admitted. "I saw you as a struggling beginning trainer who needed help on her journey. When I said I wanted your support on my gym battles, part of me was too stubborn to acknowledge that I really did need help. I was trying to help you get started as a trainer by having you travel with us, with the intention of you branching out onto your own path when you felt ready, but you ended up helping me far more than I could ever help you. You were always cheering the loudest when I fought in a gym battle. No matter how crazy things got, you never left us. You even found a dream of your own to pursue, and I couldn't help but try to cheer louder than everyone else during your performances, and I was happy to set aside my own goals temporarily so you could realize your own. I guess what I'm trying to say, Serena, is that you're an indispensable part of our group, and I've always harbored regret for the way I looked down on you in the very beginning before you demonstrated the determination you had by returning something I gave you years ago to me. So I'm sorry, and thank you."

There was nothing on Serena's mind. What she had just heard was the closest thing to a confession of feelings she could ever reasonably expect to hear out of someone as dense as Ash. She dug into her mind and latched onto the common responses to his last statements and decided to wing it from there. "You don't need to apologize or thank me, Ash. I did those things because you deserve to have any support you get with all the support you've given me. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for you and your motto. Besides, I lied to you too. I told you when we met for the second time that I didn't really have a goal in mind. That was a lie. My goal was always to find you again, Ash. You were my goal. When you invited me to join you, it was the chance of a lifetime for me. I got to see the region and do it with the boy who inspired me to step out of the shadow of my mother in the first place. I discovered performing, and with that a talent and passion that let me feel like I was truly my own person, someone with the same aspirations and drive as those around me, who knew who they wanted to be, particularly like you. So please, do not apologize to me for granting me such a life-changing experience, and don't thank me for my meager attempts to return the favor."

Ash returned his serene stare to Serena. She could feel herself almost tearing up with how sappy she was being, but the rain fortunately covered for her. "I think what we're both trying to say is that we're grateful to each other. You're one of my closest friends, Serena. No card is going to change that," emphasized Ash.

"Of course it won't," Serena responded absentmindedly. _Instead, it will convince you that one of your closest friends wants to be on her own._

The performer felt into her pocket for her card. When her finger brushed against the paper, she stiffened. It was surreal. She was about to show Ash the thing she had promised to never show him. Ever since she had started performing, she had promised to herself to make sure that her love of performing never crossed over with her more personal form of love. The card had shattered that. She had always supposed that something would eventually come up that would make the separation of the group seem like an ideal idea for everyone, but she was caught off guard by the suddenness of the offer. It was more than an offer. It was a promise of the end of the incredible experience she had just admitted was the best part of her life. That in mind, the card was removed from her pocket slowly, as if to prevent its contents from spilling out. She held out the offer in one hand and cupped it with the other to protect it from the rain. "When you read this, just remember one thing: I never wanted to show this to you."

Ash took the card gingerly, with all the care Serena had shown it, and began to quickly scan the lines. His face contorted, first in surprise, then in confusion. Serena forced herself to look away. Watching Ash end her journey would just make her break down in front of him, and that would make things harder on them both. "Serena..." he began.

Serena snapped herself back to attention and crossed her arms to give herself the confidence she didn't have. "Just be honest with me. I can take it, I promise."

"I don't get it. Who's Palermo? Is this her symbol or something? Is she a friend of yours?" Ash's expression betrayed nothing but honest unawareness.

Serena wanted to slap both hands to her face and yell something rude about Ash's lack of knowledge, but she refrained from doing so. Instead, she sighed. "Palermo used to be one of the best performers in the region. She was a Kalos Queen in her time. She trained Aria, and well, that card is her offer to train me. To make me as good as Aria, rather even better, so that I can be a Kalos Queen myself. It's exactly what I need to achieve my performing dream." Saying all of it out loud forced Serena to remind herself sharply of what she would be turning down to realize that dream.

Ash tilted his head. "So have you accepted the offer?"

Serena shook her own head. "I told Palermo I was going to wait to make a decision at least until after the Kalos league."

As she had expected, Ash frowned. "Serena, if what you said is true, then you have to jump on this. It's the chance of a lifetime!" He started to get a bit excited, as if he were the one being given a ticket to becoming a top performer rather than Serena.

"It's not that simple. I can't leave you, Clemont and Bonnie behind now when you all helped me to find this goal in the first place. I have to at least go with you to the Kalos League before I take the offer or not. I love performing, truly, but I wouldn't have performing if it wasn't for you, Ash. I refuse to pursue my dream at least until you realize yours."

Ash was pensive. Something in his eyes had shifted again, and again Serena didn't recognize the emotion. He placed the card in his lap, on a dry spot on his pants. He didn't say anything for a full minute. The implications of the card had reached him. "So you'll take this offer after I compete in the Kalos League?" he finally assumed.

The shift in Ash's demeanor baffled and tortured Serena. There was no way for her to tell how he really felt about the card. She would almost have preferred that he be more adamant about her leaving, as she expected. She wasn't prepared for him to be so... non-committal to the offer. He was responding the same way she was. "Ash, if I'm really being honest, I don't want to take the offer. I've been performing for a while, but I've been waiting to talk to you again for much longer. I want to have a dream that can coincide with your goals. I know that dream exists. Maybe it is performing. I'd love for it to be performing, but the bottom line is that my first goal was always you. I can't just ignore that, nor would I want to. I... don't know what to do." She felt her composure begin to falter, but did nothing to correct it.

Ash was taken aback at Serena's response. He hadn't expected her to be just as indecisive as he was on the matter. His brain appeared to be working overtime. When he turned his full attention to her, a serious gaze had absorbed his entire countenance. "Serena, you have to know that I've enjoyed our time together just as much as you have. I don't want you to leave, but it would be selfish of me to expect you to follow me when you have an offer like this being provided for you. I'm not going to ask you to stay, Serena, and I'm not going to ask you to leave. I wouldn't want to be the reason you pass on something like this."

"So, if our positions were switched, you would take the offer?" she ventured.

"Yes," answered Ash without hesitation. "It would be sad, and I would be upset for a while, but it would be the best thing for my dream. But I'm not you. I can't make this decision for you."

Serena hadn't listened to the rest of his words. She had frozen when he said yes. When she felt confident enough to speak in a comprehensible manner, she let out the only thought on her mind. "I wish I had never gotten this stupid offer."

Ash raised an eyebrow. "Why not? It's the chance of a lifetime."

Serena slapped a hand on the ground, sending muddy droplets everywhere, including on her clothes. "That's the problem! How am I supposed to reasonably turn down an offer like this? I can't. I..." she broke off, her emotions finally getting the better of her as tears began to stream noticeably from her face.

Ash started, like the tears had woken him up. He reached into his pocket and dug around for a second before withdrawing the blue handkerchief. He offered it wordlessly to the girl. Serena took the gift with little thought and held it to her face. Despite having been carefully washed by Ash, the faint aroma of blood still clung to the fabric. Serena found it comforting. In a way, the handkerchief was a part of her now. As she dried her eyes through silent sobs, Ash began to speak again. "You don't have to decide right now, Serena. In fact, it would probably be better that we handle this after we recover Bonnie and our pokémon. The future can wait for us to secure the present."

Serena looked over the handkerchief. "Do you just want me to leave?" She wasn't sure why she said it. Well, that wasn't true. She said it because it was what she expected of Ash. Ash had never failed to meet her expectations of him.

Ash shook his head empathetically. "Of course not, Serena. I also don't want to be the reason you turn down this opportunity."

Serena returned her face to obscurity. "This is exactly why I didn't want you to see this card. You're going to find out why I haven't taken the offer, why I don't want to take the offer." She paused. "And Eusine knew this. This is his fault. It was his plan the whole time. I don't know why, but he knew this would happen. I can't stand him."

Ash began turning the card over in his hand, feeling the texture of the printed ink on the paper, examining it like a particularly interesting piece of food that may or may not actually be enjoyable to consume. Serena watched him curiously. Eventually, he held out the card in the same fashion she had done so for it before him, and Serena took it, returning the handkerchief in return. "You're an incredible performer, Serena. I know that. You know that. Palermo knows that. This seems like the best way for you to move forward with your performing career."

Serena immediately shook her head. "I can't lie to myself and agree to that, Ash." She returned the card to her stained pocket.

"But it's true."

Serena, struggled to maintain her composure. "It's not, Ash. It never was. I wouldn't have a performing career without you. I wouldn't have kept going without your encouragement. I can't keep performing knowing I had to leave you behind to do so. I lied, Ash. I lied about why I started this journey. I can't lie anymore. If I truly want to be the best performer I can be, then I have to be honest, and I know that you always bring out the best in me. I don't want to take the offer because, without you, achieving my dream won't be as special. I don't want to leave you because I-" A loud beeping suddenly cut off Serena's speech.

Ash, who had been paying attention, suddenly found himself distracted by the Pikachu tracking machine. He pulled the device out and began to fiddle with the volume, apologizing to Serena for the interruption. Serena used the chance to think long and hard about what she had been about to say. The words still hung on the tip of her tongue, and she felt that if she opened her mouth, they would come tumbling out uncontrollably. The more rational side of her brain observed Ash. He was clearly frustrated at the device in front of him, but he was handling it with the utmost care. The beeping only increased in volume until there was a fizz and pop, and the machine exploded in Ash's face. His surprise at the explosion quickly gave way to an unmistakable silence. Serena's heart went out to him. She suddenly saw the meaning of his earlier statement. It would be wrong of her to foist her feelings onto him before their family was complete again. She resolved to redouble her efforts to find Bonnie, Pikachu, and her pokémon. Then, and only then, would she consider finishing her sentence. "Are you alright, Ash?" she asked, finalizing her decision.

As she expected, Ash remained oblivious to the major decision she had just made. She knew nothing save directly informing Ash of her feelings would garner any understanding from him, and the odds of even that working were dubious at best. "I'm going to be fine, Serena. I don't need any machine to help me find Pikachu, or your pokémon, or Bonnie. We can do anything we put our minds to if we work together."

Serena let slip a genuine smile, and it felt wonderful. She was tired of frowning. "You're right. We have people and pokémon counting on us. We can finish this chat after we find everyone."

Ash grinned gratefully at her. "It's nice to see you smile, Serena. It makes me happy." He returned his cap to his head.

Serena beamed at that. "Thank you, Ash. Let's get back before it gets any darker."

Ash rose and offered a hand to Serena, which she accepted. After being pulled up, Serena took inventory of herself. Her clothes were wet, particularly her stockings, and her dress was smattered with muddy rain. For once, she looked as disheveled as she felt. Ash himself also took notice of Serena's clothing. "Let's hurry back while the sun is still setting. I'm sure there's a washing machine in that manor somewhere."

Serena nodded wordlessly. She had said quite enough for one day. The two set off, following the dull orange glow of the setting sun as it peeked out from under the storm clouds. She silently thanked the wild Pikachu hoard for being located directly opposite the direction the sun san into the earth in. The trip back to the manor was uneventful, at least compared to the trip there. By the time the two of them had returned to their temporary base of operations, the wind had picked up, blowing the rain at an angle that thoroughly soaked the two and forcing them to run. The sun had disappeared as well, leaving them in near darkness as the moon was covered by the clouds. If she was being honest, Serena realized it was a miracle that she and Ash made it back at all. As they approached the front door, Serena made out both Clemont and Shauna standing in the doorway. The worried expressions on their faces melted into relief when they saw their friends approaching. When they finally made it under the awning of the porch, Shauna slammed her hands onto Serena's shoulders and shook her violently. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, Serena! What if you had disappeared too?! I would never have forgiven myself. What took you so long?" The questions came out rapidly and without pause.

Serena tried to focus, a difficult task with everything on her mind. "Shauna, I'm fine. Ash and I were just talking. You don't have to shake me," she managed to get out in between shakes.

Shauna immediately stopped. "I'm sorry. This day has been kind of rough. I'm glad you're fine. Ash, it's nice to see you again too."

Ash nodded to Serena before digging into his pocket and withdrawing the busted Pikachu tracker. "By the way, your tracker exploded, Clemont. Sorry about that."

Clemont, who had been silent, took the tracker quietly. "Well, thank you for humoring me. At least the tracker found some pikachu, even if they weren't your pikachu. I'm glad you're safe. The others are inside already. Let's get out of the rain." He opened the front door and beckoned inside.

Grateful to be out of the rain, Ash and Serena hustled inside, their friends right behind them. The manor was far warmer than the biting chill of the night's rain. A soft glow emanated from several divots in the wall that Serena hadn't noticed up to this point. It only then occurred to her that the manor had no hanging light fixtures that lit up. She mused over how much the previous owner had really updated the manor while Clemont took the lead again, winding through the multiple rooms that comprised the slightly confusing floor plan. Dimly aware that they were heading back to the dining hall, Serena was more focused on Shauna, who was staring at her. In her eyes was the obvious question _Does he know everything?_ stuck on endless and instantaneous repeat broadcast. Serena leaned over to the girl. "Just the card," she whispered, not letting Ash know that she was even saying anything, which wasn't difficult considering the boy was talking to Clemont.

Shauna let out a small sigh. "I guess that's understandable," she responded in the same low tone her friend used. "I won't force you to say anything. Also, here's Sylveon." She passed Sylveon's poké ball beck to its rightful trainer.

Serena nodded gratefully and leaned away just as Ash turned. She smiled at him innocently, while Shauna began whistling unconvincingly. Ash wasn't suspicious at all of this action and smiled back at his friends before returning to his talk with Clemont. The foursome made it back to the dining hall where Ash had challenged Tierno without much trouble, confirming Serena's suspicions of their destination. Aside from Eusine, who was leaning against a wall in the corner of the room, everyone had gathered at the head of the rather large table. As soon as they heard the door to the room open, they all turned and broke out into varying degrees of smiles. Calem was the only one to wave the group over. "Wonderful to see you all again. Jessie was in the middle of lying to us about how we caught Squishy." Of everyone in the room, Calem was clearly the least concerned with the world around him.

Serena and Eusine exchanged deadly glares before Clemont seemed to remember something and opened his pocket to reveal Squishy sleeping in it. "I almost forgot that you two don't know. I know we didn't find Pikachu, but Calem and the others managed to retrieve Squishy! It likes being in my pocket. I think it reminds it of Bonnie's bag."

Ash and Serena looked at Squishy. "That's great to hear, Clemont. Was Squishy..." he trailed off, his implication obvious.

Clemont shook his head. He motioned to the table. "They can explain what happened better than I can. They were there."

Shauna led the way over to the group at the table. Jessie was still fuming over Calem's comment while James struggled to appease her. The noble demeanor she had seen in the man had disappeared, and his flamboyant personality had taken over again. She tried to puzzle out how the two could be the same person. It just didn't make sense in her mind, and she was glad that Ash was always straightforward with her. In between her incoherent raging, Jessie managed a clear statement. "I'm telling James exactly what happened! We found Squishy in the woods and I used my superior intellect and charm to capture the beast! Is that so hard to believe!?"

"Yes," answered everyone but James and Eusine at the same time.

Jessie continued to fume while Clemont excused himself to work on his machine, which Serena noticed was resting on the far end of the table. She wasn't even sure she could tell how it worked, even though Clemont made it clear that it was for tracking Bonnie. Calem took a seat at the head of the table and kicked his feet up. "Not sure why you're bothering to try to make the story interesting. All that happened was we found the little thing and picked it up. It was nervous until we brought it to Clemont, who promised it that he would find Bonnie."

Tierno and Trevor both shook their heads empathetically. "That's a lie too and you know it," exclaimed Tierno. "Shauna, you should have seen it. Squishy transformed into some kind of four legged pokémon and fought to a standstill with Calem's Gardevoir! He would have won, too, if Squishy hadn't used some weird move that destroyed the ground and made everything green. It was incredible."

Trevor nodded in agreement. "I've never seen a battle as fierce as the one they had. We were lucky that Squishy agreed to join us after Calem talked it down. I don't think any of us can take it when it uses that power."

Serena cast a glance where Squishy was resting. _I know that it transformed once before, but is Squishy really strong enough to beat Calem?_ She weighed the odds of that story being true while Shauna fawned over Calem's feats. Calem himself continued to play down his battling. "If that's what you saw, I suppose that's fine, Snap. The important thing to note is that Squishy was alone, without pursuers. That tells me one thing: It wasn't the target." He let his deduction drift ominously around the room.

Clemont began to work more furiously on his machine. It only then occurred to Serena that he hadn't reacted to the fact that both his machines worked as intended, even though one of them had failed and exploded in the end. She turned back to the group, where Calem was continuing. "In any case, we're all back and we've had a taste of success. In my humble opinion, that's grounds for rejoicing, but Spike told me that your group had an argument of some sort?"

Overall, Calem appeared to be feigning disinterest, but the look Shauna was giving him told Serena that he was paying very close attention to the response he would get. "I've told them all what happened. We're all on your side, Serena," reassured Shauna.

Serena raised an eyebrow. Shauna shook her head almost imperceptibly and Serena instantly relaxed. She should know better than to question if her friend had blown the sensitive nature of the source of the conflict. For the first time, her card began to feel a bit lighter in her pocket. She realized Trevor was staring at her, as was nearly everyone else. She involuntarily gulped. "It's settled." Saying it out loud made it feel more true than Serena thought really was. "Eusine tried to ruin the cooperation we agreed on when we left."

Eusine, at the sound of Serena's voice, broke from his self-imposed solitude and strode confidently over to the group. Those who noticed him regarded him coldly. He took no notice of his reception. "It's settled, is it? I don't suppose you'd be willing to describe what you discussed with your friend in the pouring rain that settled all of our problems for us, because I do believe you despised me when I last saw you."

Serena swallowed hard. There was no way she could tell anyone what she had been talking about, especially not Eusine. Everyone focused their attention on Ash and Serena, either unable or unwilling to call the charlatan off. The performer cast a glance at Ash. Ash caught her gaze and smirked. Before Serena could even begin to interpret that he stepped forward. "I'm not going to put up with your bullying, Eusine. You're here because you know the town and its history well. We could easily find that information ourselves should we need it. So back off."

It was strange to see Ash threatening people, but if there was anyone who deserved it, it was Eusine. The man was unimpressed. "Or what, you'll battle me? That's gone just swell for you today, hasn't it? I bet you and Tierno are just bursting with affection for each other, right!?"

Calem stood up suddenly. "He isn't going to battle you. I will. I also heard that you tried to get everyone to go back on the friendship I worked so hard to drag out of my friends. Don't think you can do whatever you want and get away with it." His tone had gone from nonchalant to icy in the blink of an eye.

Eusine regarded the threat in front of him. Jessie and James snickered behind him. "Yeah, stop messing with people! It's rude!" Jessie managed to utter between contained snickers.

"Your atrocities come in greater numbers and carry far more severity than my mere interferences can square up to," attacked Eusine, latching on to the smaller fish in the pond. "If I go, you'll certainly follow close behind. Meowth may not appreciate being rescued by 'twerps'."

The humans of team rocket clammed up. Calem swung his gaze around, surveying those standing around, most of them idly, a few of them with aggression directed at nothing. "Perfect. Glad we understand each other. Now hopefully, Sawyer and Kathi Lee will return soon so we can make arrangements for how to keep Diantha safe while netting our culprit before the closing ceremony of the festival-" He was cut off by the unmistakable whir of helicopter blades, slicing through the monotonous sound of the rain colliding with the roof tiling of the manor. Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and looked towards the door as if they were expecting her to burst in with the helicopter. A silent moment passed. Nobody bothered to head to the front door and let Kathi Lee know where they were. The inaction struck Serena as odd, until she remembered that Sawyer was with Kathi Lee. _Some friendship we have._ The troubling thought ran through her head as she took the initiative to find their host. As she opened the door leading back to the main hall, Kathi Lee came tumbling through it, completely soaked and flanked by two bodyguards, the only two she had left. The guards helped their boss up as she struggled to catch her breath. Calem immediately paced over to her and helped her get her bearings. The bodyguards backed off and let Calem help her. Sputtering and breathing heavily, she managed to speak. "S-Sawyer..." she managed to get out.

The room visibly became colder. "What about Sawyer, Kathi? Take your time." Calem gave the woman some space as he spoke.

Kathi Lee straightened up. "I'm fine, just winded. Sawyer though... he jumped out of the helicopter! He released a sceptile and jumped out of our helicopter with it while we returned! I don't know where he went, or if he's even okay..." she broke off again, distraught.

Tierno made two fists with his hands. "I knew it! He's trying to run again! We have to catch him before he gets away!"

Trevor nodded empathetically next to Tierno. "We don't have time to waste here. He could be halfway across the forest by now. Let's go!" He began to run towards the exit, only to be blocked by Jessie and James.

"Hold it, twerps! You know you won't see a poké ball in front of your face if you try to look for something out there! Let us use our balloon and my sweet Gourgeist to search for the twerp."

Jessie seemed more adamant about helping with this than Serena had ever seen her about anything. To her surprise, Calem nodded. "They're right. We can't search out there with our eyes. Let them go. Does anyone else have a visual aid or some other way of tracking down Sawyer?" he asked the room.

Nobody had a response. Serena felt an ache to see Braixen again welling up inside of her. Even Clemont either didn't hear the request or chose to ignore it in favor of continuing his work finding his sister. Team rocket took their leave as everyone racked their brains and failed to come up with a suitable method of combing the forest without sight. Calem shrugged and released his gardevoir. "Sawyer, Sanity," he instructed to the pokémon after it had completely appeared.

Sanity nodded once and disappeared. Calem remained focused on the spot where his pokémon had been standing for a moment longer before turning to the others to realize they were all staring at him. "What? Sanity can track the psychic energy of anyone or anything it has seen before. It might take a while with the rain, but Sanity will find Sawyer eventually."

Shauna sighed. "You make that sound way less impressive than it is, Calem."

Calem shrugged. "I'm just trying to help."

As they spoke, Ash slapped a palm to his forehead. "Duh," he said to himself, before heading for the door.

"Ash, where are you going?" called Serena after him.

"I'm gonna send Noivern out there. Noivern is perfect for searching in the dark."

By the time Serena realized he was right, the boy had left the room. _Same old Ash. No stopping him once he gets an idea in his head._ With Ash and Calem's contributions to the search, Trevor said what was on everyone's mind. "So what should we do while we wait to hear back? We've done enough of that waiting for Kathi Lee. No offense, Kathi Lee."

Kathi Lee waved his apology off nonchalantly while Clemont, who Serena had thought had completely missed the whole exchange, rose to his feet suddenly and faced the group. "You can bear witness to my greatest invention yet! Everyone gather over here!" Clemont was back in scientist mode, the state that had a way of eradicating any emotion he had been feeling that didn't have to do with a passion for mad science. Everyone cautiously made their way to the other side of the large table, the story of the explosion of the pikachu tracking machine having circulated to them all. Even Eusine joined their huddle with moderate interest, to Serena's chagrin.

Clemont smirked before withdrawing his remote. Next to him was a large box that almost looked like a television, except the screen was a grid and the box was covered in knobs and buttons that Serena couldn't make heads or tails of. "The future is now, thanks to science! Clemontic gear on!" He inserted the remote into a fitted hole on the front of the machine, bringing it to life with multiple clicks and whirs. "I call it the Bonnie Tracker Device! This machine, given enough time, can use the exact energy signature of Bonnie, found using all the data I have on her, to pinpoint her exact location and print out the exact directions for finding her!"

Serena hadn't noticed that Ash had returned until he spouted out his line about how science is so amazing right next to her. After getting over her near heart attack, she frowned. "Where did you get all that data, Clemont?" she asked suspiciously.

Clemont shrugged, unwilling to be put down in his triumph. "This isn't the first time I've built a machine to keep track of my sister."

Tierno whistled. "Well, first time or not, I'll be extremely impressed if it works. You don't suppose you could get it to track Sawyer, do you?"

Clemont shook his head. "Like I said, it took all the data I had on Bonnie to make this thing work, and thus it will only work for her. It has to work this time."

Serena almost thought she could see everyone's confidence in the room lower. Clemont ignored this and pressed what was clearly the on switch on the remote that was now a part of his tracking machine. The machine immediately roared to life before immediately sputtering like a leaf blower that wasn't started properly. In a frenzied panic, Clemont attacked his work with his tools, pounding in various components and readjusting others. A tense minute passed while everyone slowly backed away from Clemont's hope of finding his sister. Fortune, however, was on Clemont's side, and the machine calmed down and proceeded to emit a dull hum as it began its work. Clemont fell backwards, landing on his rump in a state of disbelief that he had actually saved a machine from exploding. Realizing his situation, the inventor rose immediately and tried to play it cool. "As expected. The machine is now calculating Bonnie's location for us. It will be prepared by tomorrow morning." He attempted to strike what Serena could only describe as the least cool pose she had ever seen.

Shauna sighed at the news of the time it would take for the machine to work. "Until morning? Really?"

Calem placed a hand on Shauna's shoulder. "There isn't much we can do to find her until we have sunshine, Sunshine. Even Sanity can't track something if it doesn't have a general area like the woods the chopper flew over to look in. Bonnie could be anywhere."

Serena wasn't sure that Shauna actually heard her crush, and wondered if she became that stiff when Ash happened to make contact with her. She certainly hoped not. After another uncomfortable silence took over, Eusine started to grin, which worried Serena. "Well, if we all have nothing further to do, then why don't we all chat pleasantly until someone brings us news and forces us out into the storm?" His tone carried no sarcasm, but Serena couldn't help but feel like he was mocking them.

If the mood was in the process of dying, then Eusine had just finished it off. Nobody wanted to be the first to break from the group, but they all knew what they wanted to do. Trevor and Tierno took the initiative, excusing themselves to return to the head of the table and converse quietly. Ash and Clemont did the same thing, but remained by the machine. It was comforting to see Clemont starting to act normal again. She hoped he could hold it together long enough for him to be reunited with his sister. Calem, apparently giving up on camaraderie for the day, had taken to staring at the ornate wallpaper decorating the wall nearest where Sanity had disappeared. Shauna cast Serena an apologetic glance before leaving her to stand next to her crush. Even Eusine found a conversation in Kathi Lee, the two discussing who knows what as they made their way to the rear of the manor. The two body guards followed Kathi Lee wordlessly. Serena thought she recognized one of the guards as the woman that had spoken up to Diantha to advise against them entering the restaurant. She had to focus hard to remind herself that that meal had happened only a day ago. With everyone else wrapped up in their own conversations, Serena decided to explore the manor a bit. After all, it was likely to be their sleeping location for the night. She left the room after exchanging a quick word of her decision with Clemont and Ash and made her way back to the main hall. From there, she proceeded up the stair case. This time, she followed the hallway at the top of the stairs all the way to the end, passing several doors on either side of her, all identical in their dapper nature. She turned left at the end of the hall and found herself walking along the balcony that ran across the perimeter of the room everyone had remained in. It was a strange sight, looking down on everyone, and she didn't understand why the owner of the building would want such a factory-like appearance to permeate his or her living space. She retreated from the unfriendly sight and resolved to head into the singular door that faced the grand staircase directly, directly across from the front door but hidden from immediate view by its height and distance into the structure.

As she pushed the oak door open, Serena was slightly surprised to see that she had found her way to the master bedroom. It was easily the largest and most decorated room in the house, with a massive bed adorned by wooden poles carved to look like pokémon holding a veil around the mattress. Instead of the dull glow of the strange light fixtures scattered around the manor, real lamps with lightbulbs on the bedside tables comprised of the room's lighting. A large semi-circular window on the opposite side of the room dominated the wall it was on, while the other three walls were fully lined with bookshelves. A soft carpet covered the floor, starkly contrasting the hardwood in the rest of the manor. Several pictures on the bedside tables added a bit of a personal touch to the room. The actual books on the shelf were tossed all asunder around the shelve, some of them upside down, missing covers, or simply torn to pieces. It didn't make sense to Serena how someone could simultaneously want to have this many books in the place they slept in and treat them this badly at the same time. She made her way to the bedside carefully, as if the room was an artifact she was to avoid disturbing for fear it would disintegrate or set off a trap. When she got close enough to inspect the pictures, Serena was slightly disappointed to see that they were all just pictures of legendary pokémon from various regions. She figured Trevor would enjoy them and made a note in her mind to show Trevor the room later. She was about to leave when she noticed one more picture, tilted at an angle that made it easily obscured by the lamp on that table. This picture appeared to contain people, and she scooped it up eagerly. When she did, she almost dropped the picture immediately. Standing there, smiling his devlish smile at her while standing next to a rather portly elderly man with a strange mustache and two large tufts of grey hair coming out of each side of his head was none other than Eusine himself.

"Are you enjoying your tour?"

Serena gasped and whipped around to see the definite article standing suspiciously behind her just inside the door. "You're in this picture" she spoke, not totally sure she believed her own eyes.

Eusine nodded proudly. He was soaked, and Serena realized that he must have been getting Kathi Lee to let him use the healing machine outside next to the battlefield. "Yes, those were some of my better days. The other person in that picture is the previous owner of this manor, the mayor, if you're curious. After he left this town, the next mayor decided not to use the place because of how isolated it was, and since then it's sort of fallen out of style."

Serena was still stuck on the fact that Eusine was in the photo. "You're in this picture," she repeated. "How old are you?"

Eusine scoffed. "Old enough to know that you should never ask someone that question. I believe I made my devotion to catching Suicune quite clear, yes? Well, there's no better way to find such a magnificent pokémon than to frequent the same locales that it does. As it happened, I managed to rescue the mayor from a stampeding taurus one day. He and I have been close ever since." For the first time since meeting him, Serena thought she saw real empathy in the man's nostalgic eyes.

"You just saved the mayor out of the goodness of your heart?" she responded suspiciously.

"You don't have to believe me, youngster," spoke Eusine with a shrug. "But I do try to act according to the moral compass you don't think I have. Now, finding Suicune is always a priority, and you happen to be an obstacle to that for me, so our situation is complicated."

Serena raised an eyebrow. "How am I an obstacle to your finding of Suicune? I'm not trying to stop you."

Eusine clicked his tongue. "Wrong. It's not your fault this time, but you're wrong. Maybe I was wrong too, now that I think about it. You might actually not try to stop me when I try to catch Suicune. I suppose it matters little. I already know your little boyfriend is going to attempt to stop me. It's an unavoidable writ of fate that I align on the negative side of his moral compass. I've accepted that."

"If Ash is going to try to stop you, then I will too."

Eusine held back a full laugh and settled for a snicker. "I'm sure you will. I'm sure they all will. Except for the criminals. They understand. As I said, it matters little. He is the one I must ensure doesn't interfere with my work." His tone grew darker. "I'd like to say it's nothing personal, but it is."

Serena could feel her heart beginning to race a bit. Her hand involuntarily curled around her ribbon. "Why are you threatening me like this? What sort of game are you trying to win here?"

"You would say I'm threatening you? Serena, my weapons are purely vocal, tempered in the fires of age and wisdom. I have no need of petty violence. You saw it yourself in our competition earlier. I detest battle, truly. The only game I've ever played has only had two players: myself and Suicune. One of these days, I will win." There was a certain conviction in the man's voice that Serena would have admired otherwise, but coming from Eusine, it just felt like another brand of malice.

"I'm not one of those players. Nobody down there is. Why bother interacting with us?" Serena figured she knew the answer already, but she wasn't willing to leave anything involving Eusine to chance.

"If I try to capture Suicune, Ash will try to stop me. You will try to stop me, by your own admittance. In doing so, you become pawns in the game Suicune and I are playing, tools to be used and readjusted as each side sees fit in order to give themselves an advantage over the other. It's strategy, if you prefer that term to taking advantage of others." He crossed the room, and Serena back away from him as he strode to the bedside table she was just standing at and picked up the picture of himself and the mayor. "That's the way things have to be if I want to win," he spoke with a sigh.

Serena was indignant. "If we're all just pawns in your game, then why is it personal with Ash specifically? What did he do to you?"

Eusine whirled around. "What has that boy done to me?! Do you have any idea how many times that damn trainer has run across Suicune on his travels?! I have to travel the world just to catch a glimpse of my goal, and this bumbling blockhead stumbles into the most majestic pokémon in existence as often as he runs into pidgy! His uncanny luck is what makes him unacceptable to me."

The statement reminded Serena of Eusine's outrage during their battle over her lucky use of two protects in a row. "When I catch Suicune, I have already sworn myself to commit to the same travels as Suicune itself. I will carry out all the duties of the legendary pokémon at its side. And even yet... I know he will find a way to disapprove. Every lead I get, every chance that I have to get close to my query, there he is, ruining things, every time. Ever since we've met I've had to stop myself from just following him around like the criminals because of his ludicrous luck," the man continued. "If I am to succeed here, he cannot be there to interfere."

A thought crossed Serena's mind, that Eusine's pursuit of Suicune had actually taken a toll on his mental health. Jealousy emanated off of him in waves, and, while she still felt fury at him for his commentary, she was partially intrigued and sympathetic to his struggle. She decided to try another angle. "How long have you known Ash?" she asked.

The faintest hint of a smile materialized on Eusine's face. "I've known the trainer for a long time, back when he was travelling through the Johto region with those gym leaders. He was a weakling back then, which made his lack of understanding of the significance of meeting Suicune all the less tolerable."

Serena had gotten stuck on his gym leaders comment. "You've meet some of Ash's other travelling companions?"

"Of course," he answered with a careless wave of his hand. "It was Brock and Misty, at the time I believe. He was boring and she was rude. I can't say the company he keeps is much better these days."

Serena's interest in Eusine's words was piqued such that she didn't even take offense to his verbal attack. She must have appeared to be extremely enthralled by his comment, because Eusine stared at her strangely. "What? Is there something in my teeth?"

There really wasn't a way for Serena to ask about Ash's former travel companions without Eusine immediately recognizing her true intentions. She muttered curses to her shameless curiosity. "No, nothing like that. You just said something about Misty and Brock, and I was wondering if you knew much about them."

To her dismay, Eusine shrugged. "Only the obvious stuff anyone could see from looking at them. Brock was the most competent one there, although he was also the oldest, so I don't know if that earns him any respect or not. I was surprised that he had chosen to leave his dignified gym to join a traveler as young as Ash was. It seemed rather rebellious of him to abandon such duties, but I suppose it can be annoying having to deal with such challengers as Ash and the like every day." He seemed content with his summation, but Serena wasn't.

"What about Misty?" she blurted out without thinking.

"The red headed one... yes, she was there," he continued without missing a beat. "She was clearly following the two around because of her attraction to Ash. It was written all over her face. I'd even wager she had it worse than you did. Must be an age thing. I wouldn't know and at the time I didn't really care."

Serena crushed her ribbon with her hand. "If that's... if that is true, then where is she now? Why isn't she still with him?" It was a weak argument, but grasping at straws was more productive than letting herself fall. The thought of other people pursuing Ash was obviously prevalent in her mind with Miette's constant threats, but the idea of one of Ash's former companions harboring such feelings left an uncomfortable knot in her stomach she couldn't remove.

"Who do I look like, his father? I'm telling you what I saw at the time. The memory is unclear because I wasn't interested in the boy back then. That didn't happen until he appeared again to mock me in the Sinnoh region. She was gone by then. Crown City, I believe it was." He paused, as if to recollect the memory.

Serena began to feel a bit light headed. "She was gone?" she managed to get out.

"Positively," answered Eusine, oblivious or unsympathetic to Serena's emotions. "Brock was still there, but he had another, younger girl with him. I was only there because I had heard that Suicune was there. It was disappointing to see that it was a mere illusion. The trick fooled everyone else, but not me. Suicune is as familiar to me as my own pokémon are. I happened to notice Ash as I was preparing to leave town. He was sneaking back into the city while it was under 'attack' by the illusions. Imagine my anger when I found out that the definite article Suicune had appeared to help the boy after I had taken my leave! I found my hatred for him the day that news story was released."

Another pause. Serena wasn't listening very closely to Eusine's backstory. She was still focused on what he had said about Misty. "That doesn't explain why Misty left Ash..." she mused.

Eusine rolled his eyes. "Glad you were paying attention. If I had to guess, it would be something along the lines of her trying to explain her feelings, him completely failing to understand it, her being forced to leave for some reason, him promising that they'll meet again, her taking that as a promise of his caring for her, him moving on quickly to some other companion, her forever thinking that she was the most important one to him while he continues on until she's a speck of memory in his mind, nearly forgotten." As he spoke, he stared directly into Serena. "Do you think you're special? Would you like to believe that you're the first one to follow that human around? I'm telling you that it's a mistake. The path you're walking down has been treaded on before, at least once, likely more times. No matter how you walk it, the path will end up in the same place, and I'm telling you Ash won't be there. You should have listened when he tried to have you take the offer. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."

Serena sat down on the bed. "You're lying. Ash wouldn't do that to someone." She found herself struggling to believe her own words. _He never lies to me. What he said out there is true. We can find a way to make everything work as long ass we don't give up._

Eusine nodded. "Not intentionally, no. The path he has chosen, however, is best suited to be walked on alone. He garners followers, not companions, people that latch on to the ideal of journeying and travel that he symbolizes and ride for a while before getting off, for reasons both within and beyond their control. One who moves at the speed he does can't afford to be weighed down by such long-standing companionships for long, lest they slow or even end his travels."

The word for Serena's emotions escaped her. Despair was close, but there was something behind it that made the whole experience unbearable. Maybe it was betrayal. A part of her cautioned not to take Eusine extremely seriously, but most of her was stuck wallowing in his words. The man moved in for the kill, towering over her seated frame. "I'm going to tell Ash what you said," she uttered weakly.

Another chuckle. "Maybe you will, maybe you won't. If you don't accept the truth from me, maybe it'll look better coming from him. The fact of the matter is, Serena, you're just a substitute for every companion Ash had before you, and one day he'll finish with you just as he has everyone else. When that day comes, just remember that you had a chance to leave while your world was still putridly perfect."


	9. Chapter 9: Falling Apart

_Serena was standing on a dock in Coumarine City as the sun rose. Her fenniken and pancham were standing by her, worry for their trainer painted all over their faces. She couldn't blame them. After her atrocious blunder in her first ever pokémon showcase, it was a small miracle that she had avoided unleashing her despair upon any of her friends for as long as she did. Now, alone against the backdrop of the ocean, she allowed the twisted agony built up in her soul to unravel. Large, sloppy tears rolled down her face as she collapsed to the ground in a bawling heap. The voices of the pokémon she had let down resonated in her ears, she felt their small trusting paws resting understandingly on her, and she wanted nothing more than for them to hate her in that moment. The sudden rush of desire to be antagonized for her actions served only to further agitate, to fester the overwhelming sadness that formed an all-encompassing universe of which she was the sole miserable resident. She deserved to be ridiculed for her mistake, and her pokémon were supposed to be angry with her. She had taken her leave from the others so that her friends wouldn't try to talk her out of feeling sorry for herself, and here her pokémon were, doing the exact thing she hadn't expected them to do. As much as she would have reveled in driving them away, she was aware enough to desire to avoid the long-term consequences of such an action. Inadvertently, her mind drifted towards trying to explain the curious phenomenon. A reel containing all the memories of her time with these pokémon began to play in Serena's mind as she searched for some sort of catalyst for the unconditional support she didn't deserve. The tape settled on another dock, this one at the shore connected to the pokémon summer camp. Serena remembered it as the dock where she had first seriously considered pursuing another goal during her journey. It felt like an eon ago, and in a way, she realized it was. Both trainers had left home for the same reason, both trainers felt a desire to pursue a dream with her pokémon while aspiring to fulfill the romantic fantasy that had become feasible all too quickly, but only one had tried to do something about this dream. That trainer had fallen flat on her face, and had gotten a taste of exactly what it was to have to fight to achieve something. It had hurt. It made her want to give up. It had made that trainer reexamine the statement that had pushed her out of the house in the first place. If a trainer could travel for so long and still refuse to give up after each failure that slapped his face and spat upon his efforts, who would she be if she quit after her first taste of reality? The idea of not giving up until it was over was somewhat redundant, in that sense. As long as Ash refused to admit defeat, he hadn't given up, and then of course his battle to be a pokémon master wasn't over. She wondered how many failures he had gone through to get to where he was. How many docks had he stood at? At some point the tears had stopped flowing down her face. In a bumbling attempt to pursue a second goal, she had almost unintentionally made herself all the more relatable to her crush. She understood why people pursued dreams like these. Every moment she had spent travelling was suddenly much sweeter, every moment with Ash and her friends and her pokémon all the more precious. Just breathing air was pleasant. A journey was more than a fun trip if you were shooting for something. In a way she had understood that, but such a public humiliation had molded the mundane knowledge into a humbling example. No, she wasn't going to give up. How could she give up on finally becoming something, on having a passion that she could freely express as her drive to wake up in the morning and work to improve herself alongside her pokémon? Silently she thanked Ash for everything. It certainly wasn't the first time she had done so, but it was the first time she felt like she could do so on some sort of level ground with the boy she adored. For the first time, she felt like she could compare herself to Ash Ketchum, and the thought swelled her with pride for her failure. She rose. There would be time for sadness, time for frustration, time for anger. It all was laid out in front of her, right along with a bright future with her best friends and her pokémon, if she was willing to commit to performing and finally step into her own metaphorical and literal spotlight. She felt the need to mark the occasion, so she rose. It was only when she reached the edge of the dock that she realized she was holding scissors in her hand._

The memory was clear in Serena's mind, but she wasn't sure why Eusine's bombardment of verbal abuse had brought such an event to her conscious. The card grew heavier in her pocket, and the epiphany came to her. _I was considering leaving him. I didn't want to, but I was considering it. If what Eusine said is true, then I'm still acting like Ash... I can't be a substitute. There's no way. Ash would never just leave someone like that. He always finds a way. He promised me he would find a way..._

"Please don't have a stroke or something. I'd have a really hard time explaining that to your friends," spoke Eusine with a small amount of irritation in his tone.

Serena blinked a few times and realized she had zoned out, likely as an escape from the man in front of her. "I'm not having a stroke, and if I was, I certainly wouldn't let you know." She rose up from the bed.

Eusine raised an eyebrow. "You may antagonize me all you like. It's perfectly natural of you to do so. I have little interest in ruining your life, as I'm sure your mind believes I do. Unfortunately, the truth became necessary for you to stay out of my way."

Serena could feel herself faltering again, and reached desperately within herself to hold fast to her nerve. "You're wrong, Eusine. You're misconstruing who Ash is. Who I am. I am not a substitute. Ash doesn't just leave people behind. My feelings have nothing to do with it. You're insulting the sacrifices Ash has accepted in his pursuit of his dream, and I won't stand for it!"

"And what have you sacrificed to put on a dress and strut around with your pets, girl? Have you ditched a companion like Misty for the sake of your dream?" Eusine shot back.

"Even if what you're saying is true, you and I both know that Ash doesn't understand that sort of relationship yet. It doesn't count."

Eusine scoffed. "I see. Will it count, then, when you leave him, ditch him and steal away into the night, crying your eyes out while he wakes up in the morning, notices your absence, and rolls over to go back to sleep?"

Serena allowed her voice to lower. "Ash would never do that. He cares for me and his friends far too much to ever just leave them and never hear from them again."

Eusine suddenly broke out into a wide grin. "Does he now? Ash, when was the last time you talked to anyone you've ever travelled with?"

Mortified, Serena whipped around to see Ash standing in the open doorway, a dumbfounded look on his face. It was the sort of stantler in the headlights look that Serena remembered having when she had walked on stage during the fashion show in Laverre City. She wanted to say something to prevent both of them from having to deal with Ash's answer to the question, but Ash recovered from his surprise almost immediately. "I spoke with several of them a few days ago. Why does it matter?"

Serena's shock became confusion. She vaguely remembered Ash calling some people when they had arrived in town for her master class performance, but had been far too distracted by her upcoming performance capstone to pay it much mind. Eusine seemed even more befuddled than Serena. "Seriously? Why would you bother to do that?!"

Ash actually seemed uncomfortable, forcing the obvious question of why into Serena's mind. It was rare to see the boy unwilling to share any sort of information. "Look, it's really not important. I came here to let you two know that Inkay has returned. Apparently team rocket found something." He shuffled a bit on his feet, clearly eager to leave the room altogether.

As badly as Serena desired to find the root of Ash's discomfort, she desired even mores so to find it without Eusine being present. She thanked Ash for telling them swiftly and took the lead by walking briskly out of the room, condemning the others to follow. Eusine was clearly upset at her conclusion of the conversation, but that was irrelevant to her. There were too many sensitive questions buzzing around her that needed answers, and trying to answer any of them with that purple menace around was an absolutely terrible idea. _Ash wouldn't use people the way Eusine said he did... I can't let him drive us apart, not now, not ever. I need to find out why Ash left them, why he just called some of them. I can't be a repeat of all those before me. I'm not a substitute._ Her somewhat scrambled thought train seemed satisfied with its content as the group of three reached the bottom of the staircase to find everyone had gathered in the main hall by the front door. Inkay was floating above all of them, closest to the exit. When it saw Ash, it floated over to him and gestured wildly with its tentacles. "Inkay ink inkay!" it spoke hurriedly.

Ash nodded to James' pokémon. "We're going, don't worry. Are you all ready to move out?" he asked.

Everyone nodded, even Clemont and Kathi Lee, both of whom Serena had half-expected to stay behind. Shauna suddenly paused in her acknowledgement. "Wait, Calem, Ash, what about your pokémon?"

Calem shrugged and closed his eyes. Within a few seconds, Gardevoir appeared right in the middle of everyone, sending several people stumbling backwards and scaring everyone. Calem grinned. "We found something, Sanity. Thank you for searching."

Ash's eyes lit up with wonder while Eusine's were full of malicious interest. "That... was cool," Shauna managed to get out when she had calmed down.

"It's not a big deal. Sanity knows when I want it to return. We're good friends like that." Sanity nodded in agreement.

A frown crossed Eusine's face. "Only trainers of the caliber of yourself and Diantha can ever hope to have a connection like that with their psychic type pokémon. I can't communicate with Alakazam like that, and we've been partners longer than you've been alive. It's more than a big deal. It's nearly unheard of among travelling trainers." His gaze had hardened, although Calem didn't seem to really care.

"Who cares, it's awesome!" interrupted Ash. "Now come on, we need to catch up to team rocket!" His enthusiasm melted the tension in the room.

Ash started to bolt out the door, only for Serena to reach out and grab his arm out of habit, ignoring her malicious suspicions about him to be his voice of reason. "Ash, what about Noivern? It won't know we left." As conflicted as she was, Serena wasn't about to let anyone's pokémon get hurt, even Ash's.

Realizing his mistake, Ash withdrew a poké ball and released Greninja. The pokémon stood with its arms crossed in front of everyone, awaiting orders. Ash grinned at it. "Greninja, Noivern is out there looking for Sawyer. Find it, come back here with it and wait for us."

Greninja nodded once before sprinting out the door almost as fast as Serena could see, disappearing into the darkness within a few seconds. Ash barely had time to give it a wave to send it off. A sigh emanated from Serena. Releasing another pokémon to find a pokémon wasn't the greatest solution, but it was a very Ash thing to do. With nothing more to hold them back, Inkay practically shoved everyone out the door, shouting its name insistently. Calem, Ash and Tierno took the lead in following the pokémon into the woods. Trevor, Shauna and Eusine ran close behind them, while Serena lagged a bit to ensure that Clemont and Kathi Lee, the slowest runners, weren't left behind. The bodyguards remained at the helicopter on Kathi Lee's orders. The rain had refused to cease despite the passage of time, and Serena reminded herself again sharply to find the manor's washing machine before she went to sleep, the dried mud smattered over her clothes becoming soaked again right along with the rest of her. It was impossible to tell how far they had come, or even where they currently were in the darkness. Thankfully, Inkay had the sense not to run too quickly, but Serena could still only make out her entire party if she focused hard, which was difficult when she was trying to avoid the tangled undergrowth littered across her path. Inkay wasn't considerate enough to find a path that accommodated anything that couldn't fly. Serena had been hoping to consider the information Eusine had given her on their running jog through the woods, but she found herself focusing more on not tripping and keeping her group together. After an impossible to discern number of minutes, she happened to chance a look upward through the forest canopy and noticed the gleaming beam of Jessie's gourgeist, shining its beam of light down in an area directly in front of where they were running. Serena forgot about the problem of her not knowing which direction she had headed off in or where they were. What mattered was that they were almost at their destination. Inkay must have caught the brief glimpse of the sky as well, and it picked up its pace, drawing gasps of exhaustion from both Kathi Lee and Clemont. Serena encouraged them until they were all amassed at the edge of another clearing in the woods, their progress halted by Inkay. Standing in the middle of Gourgeist's spotlight in the clearing's center was the unmistakable form of Sawyer and his Sceptile. Both appeared uneasy, ready to strike but unwilling to make a move at the same time. She saw nothing but silhouettes from the team rocket blimp, which was close to the ground but still well out of reach should Sceptile want to attack it. _Why isn't he fighting them? Why isn't he running?_ The answer became more evident when Ash gasped. Gourgeist had shifted its light with the movement of the balloon to reveal the slouched over form of Noivern, struggling to take off or even stand up properly. Serena realized that Sceptile must have been battling Noivern, and winning by the appearance of the two. Serena involuntarily turned to Ash to watch him run to his pokémon's aid, but the boy hadn't moved. "Ash... that's Noivern over there!" she hissed to him.

Ash nodded wordlessly, seemingly distracted. Trevor noticed the exchange and frowned. "Inkay stopped us from getting involved for a reason. Just be patient," he insisted.

"The twerps are going to be here any minute, twerp! Just leave Noivern alone and let's talk about this!" called James from the balloon.

"Yeah!" agreed Jessie. "If we wanted to take your pokémon we would have done it already! Just let Noivern go and be a smart twerp for once!" Jessie's wobbuffet popped out and sounded its agreement before Jessie could shove it back into its poké ball.

Sawyer seemed to consider the offer before shaking his head. "I can't do that. Even if I believe you, I can't stay with the others. I have to be alone. Sceptile, finish it with dragon claw!" he ordered.

Ash chose that moment to burst out of the bushes and into the clearing, Serena and the others right behind him. She knew that none of them could possibly get to Sceptile in time, but there was comfort in at least trying. Right as Sceptile was about to connect with dragon claw, it seemed to freeze in midair, its glowing claw refusing to come down to strike Ash's prone pokémon. Serena briefly thought that Sceptile was disobeying its trainer, only for her eyes to adjust and realize that Greninja had leapt out of the woods from the side of the clearing closer to Noivern and blocked the strike with a cut attack midair. The two rivals stared at each other intensely, one with determination, one with irritation. Sceptile gave up its attack and jumped backwards to stand by Sawyer, giving Ash and the others enough time to enter Gourgeist's orange spotlight and be seen by everyone. "Twerps! You made it! Wonderful job, Inkay!" cried James gleefully.

Ash continued to run until he was standing by Noivern. He stooped over to inspect the bat, releasing the breath he was holding when he realized that his pokémon had no permanent damage. He turned on Sawyer. "Why?" he asked with a twinge of anger.

Sawyer was panicking, that much Serena could see. If there was a look for somebody in over their head, Sawyer had it on his face. "I'm so sorry, Ash. Noivern led team rocket here, and I couldn't go back... I can't come back. It's not safe for me. I told Noivern to stop following me..."

"Enough, Sawyer," interrupted Ash. "Look. I'm not excusing it, but I know why you attacked Noivern. I don't know why you decided to run away in the first place. We want to help you, Sawyer."

Several people scoffed, notably Tierno and Trevor. Serena shot them both an icy look that Trevor ignored and Tierno winced at sheepishly. "I just want to be alone, Ash. I didn't ask to get involved in any of this." His head drooped to accompany his sagging tone.

"None of us are going to turn you in or do anything to hurt you, Sawyer. You can trust us," Ash pleaded.

Sawyer shook his head quickly. "I can't. I can't trust all of them, Ash. Just let me go."

Eusine, notably, took visible offense to that statement, and a few others broke out in disconcerted mumbling. Serena decided to step in. "Sawyer, you haven't done anything wrong! It was just a mega stone that AZ gave you, you didn't hurt anyone. Just come back to the manor with us and we can-"

"No!" exclaimed Sawyer, breaking Serena's statement. "You don't understand. I can't stay. Sceptile, leaf blade!"

Sceptile jumped into action, this time targeting Greninja with its leaf blade summoned. Greninja prepared a cut without Ash's command to block the attack, while Ash merely stared at Sawyer, as if he wasn't quite sure that Sawyer was fighting him. Before the two could clash, however, Sceptile froze in midair. Sanity had reappeared on the rainy battlefield, and was holding Sceptile in place with a psychic attack. "Be gentle, Sanity. This one's a friend," he urged.

Sanity responded by setting Sceptile down next to Sawyer, the pokémon shaking off the psychic energy with indignation. Sawyer sighed. "Is this how it's going to be then, Ash? Dragging your friends off to places they don't want to go because your pikachu is missing?"

Before Ash could respond, Jessie and James landed on the ground, right in between everyone. Serena saw the two and cast a terrified look up at the balloon, only to see Wobbuffet piloting the hot air balloon while saluting. Somehow, that didn't reassure Serena that the balloon wouldn't crash into all of them. "We've heard enough," spoke Jessie, drawing Serena's attention back to the crooks. "We know enough about being a criminal to handle one. If this twerp insists that he can't trust you all, then we'll take care of him! He'll be under our protection!" she crowed proudly.

"That... is a terrible idea," Tierno said. "You two know we can't trust you either."

James scoffed. "We've come this far, haven't we? If you're going to insist on picking group members out and ostracizing them from feeling like they have even the basic right of being innocent until proven guilty, then at least let those people stick together! It's a wonder he didn't try to leave sooner, the way you've all been treating him." Inkay nodded along with its trainer.

"In all honesty, I agree with James. Even if he's innocent, Sawyer has a reason to ditch us. We've suspected him ever since Trevor got him arrested," mused Calem.

"I apologized for that..." muttered Trevor, not loudly enough for anyone but those standing right next to him to hear.

"In any case, if sticking with Jessie and James rather than us is what cajoles him to stay, then I have no objections. Jessie and James will have to sleep elsewhere tonight, but that's besides the point. The point is that he hasn't done anything wrong that we can prove, so we have to be accommodating in the name of friendship. Everyone?" Calem turned back to the group.

Ash frowned while team rocket expressed their outrage to Calem at their sudden adjustment in living space. "Do you really trust Jessie and James more than you trust me, Sawyer?" he asked, a bit of hurt in his eyes.

Sawyer didn't respond immediately, and for a moment it looked like he was going to agree, only to finally shake his head no. "No, Ash, I don't, but I can't trust the people that got me in this mess in the first place even less. I feel safer with team rocket." He refused to meet anyone's gaze.

Slowly, one by one, everyone nodded in agreement with Calem's proposal expect Tierno, who only finally nodded because Calem stared at him. Serena was surprised to see that Eusine had nodded and turned to the man in confusion. When he noticed her stare he shrugged. "Whatever gets us out of this dreadful rain faster." The statement made Serena aware of her own soaked outfit, and she began nodding all the more furiously.

Calem confirmed that everyone had agreed and returned Sanity. "Well, there you go, Jack and Jill, Sawyer's your problem now. We won't mess with him, on my honor." He raised a hand as if he was taking a real oath.

Jessie grinned her normal sadistic grin, while James merely sighed with relief. "Great. Can we go back to the manor now?" he asked impatiently.

"Yeah, but how? Did anyone remember which way we came?" asked Shauna.

There was a collective silence that slowly began to terrify Serena. Jessie eventually threw up her hands. "Do we have to get everything done around here?! James, get the balloon so we can lead these twerps home," she ordered.

James looked up at the balloon, drifting practically aimlessly with Wobbuffet at the helm, and heaved a sigh before sending Inkay to retrieve their vehicle. Inkay floated up to Gourgeist and Wobbuffet to tell them what their trainer wanted. Everyone who had a pokémon out returned said pokémon, and Sawyer moved to stand beside Jessie and James while Ash returned to the side of Serena and Clemont, his expression downtrodden. Serena sympathized for him in a blissful instant where she could forget her animosity. No matter how questionable Ash's past currently was, she couldn't get rid of the empathy he had instilled in her. Clemont patted Ash on the back comfortingly. "You heard him, Ash. He trusts you, but not them. It's understandable, really. I wouldn't trust them were I in his position." He pulled off his glasses and wiped some of the moisture off of them.

Shauna glanced over irritably. "And who is 'them' supposed to be exactly, Clemont? Who are we supposed to blame for Sawyer acting suspicious?" The girl's fuming anger took Serena by surprise. Of all people besides maybe Calem, she expected Shauna to care the least about Clemont's rhetoric. The scientist was unmoved.

"I meant the people who got Sawyer in trouble in the first place to some extent, but if it would placate you, I refer instead to the fact that Sawyer seems to know something about the true culprit and isn't revealing this information to us out of fear." He raised his voice to ensure that Sawyer could hear him.

Sawyer froze in his conversation with team rocket, but he didn't respond to Clemont's casual accusation. Shauna rolled her eyes. "I've had enough of this. We can try to get each other thrown in prison after I've gotten some sleep. That means no more discussion of this until morning. Got it?" Her piercing gaze swept across the trio of travelers.

No convincing was necessary for Serena, and Ash followed her lead. After a thoughtful pause, Clemont consented as well. Shauna smiled gratefully and left to spread her ultimatum to the others. As soon as she turned away, Clemont focused on Ash. "Ash, how bad is Noivern? I have a few basic healing substances I can try if it needs medical attention now."

Even before Ash spoke, Serena knew what his answer would be by the lack of urgency in his posture. "No, Noivern will be fine, I just need to heal it when we get back to the manor. How far did we run?" he asked.

The area surrounding their location was a haze of unforgiving rain and perpetual darkness, dotted by the black towers that would have been trees in the daylight. Serena wanted to assume that they were a decent ways away from the manor, given the distance Sawyer must have dropped initially from their group and the fact that they hadn't been able to see the team rocket balloon when they left. Said balloon drew her attention as the team of Inkay and Wobbuffet somehow managed to ground their vehicle, to James' obvious relief. He, Jessie, and Sawyer clambered into the green basket that made up the balloon's base. "Alright twerps, just follow the shining gourgeist, and we'll be back before you can say pikachu!" cheered Jessie, clearly ecstatic to be out of the rain. While the foliage had done a decent job of letting Serena and the others ignore the rain, the clearing allowed nature to unleash its full force on their group. The balloon slowly took off, taking on the form of a flying lighthouse with Gourgeist throwing the beam coming out of its body in all directions with a rhythmic turning motion. One by one, everyone began to trail the glow, like mothim attracted to a flame, and they allowed team rocket to lead them to their extravagant camp site for the night.

Of all the times that Serena had walked through the manor doors that day, she was never more elated to see the sprawling ceiling over her head. After a solid three minutes of everyone shaking what felt like an entire river's worth of water off of themselves, which gave team rocket and Sawyer a chance to land their balloon next to the helicopter and rejoin them, they stood or sat around the grand staircase leading to the second floor. When Kathi Lee felt like everyone was listening, she walked up a few of the steps to make herself seen. "Alright, so here's the deal. The bodyguards sleep in the helicopter. It's a rotation in their night shift, so they shouldn't have a problem with it. Jessie, James and Sawyer, if my understanding is correct, have their own accommodations. That leaves three females and six males. The house has four bedrooms, three upstairs and one downstairs. Should we draw straws? I'm sure there's some in the kitchen."

Calem immediately shook his head. "It would only be chivalrous to allow the ladies access to the bedrooms. As for the last bedroom, well, I recommend it go to Clemont, as gratification for his invention work today."

A blush spread across Clemont's face, an extreme rarity for the boy. "I'm flattered, but I can't accept that bed. I have to stay up to keep an eye on my machine. It could find Bonnie at any time." He seemed incredibly determined, which worried Serena because she knew he would follow up on it to make sure he found Bonnie. Calem beamed. "That's perfect! If we have somebody watch the machine in a two hour rotation, then eight people are left, enough for two in each room, unless there's a better place to sleep I don't know about."

There was a slight silence as Kathi Lee ran the floor plan through her head. "No, you're right, Calem. It's better everyone sleep in the same room as someone else anyways, given what I've heard about that blaziken attack." Kathi Lee's comment quashed any objection Serena would have had to sharing a room with a guy.

Eusine reached into his pocket and withdrew a deck of cards, the very same one Serena had drawn from barely over a day ago, and began sifting through it, removing eight specific cards. "If that's settled, then I can decide who pairs up with who. Just pick a card, and you're stuck with whomever draws the same number as yourself. No straws needed. Oh, and I recommend the inventor take first watch, and by extension take his choice in room when his shift is over by selecting the next chap to take the mantle, and so on and so forth. Is this fair?"

"I don't know, did you mess with the cards?" Serena blurted her retort out without consideration.

Eusine smirked. "I deserve that, I suppose. You can shuffle the cards and even inspect them if you wish. Do we all agree or not?"

Thee only immediate response was from Clemont, who was just grateful to have a system in place that would continue his search for Bonnie while affording him some sleep. Nobody else raised an objection, so Calem took the cards when Eusine offered them up to him and shuffled them around before placing them in a single row facedown on the first stair. Everyone grabbed a card except Clemont and Eusine, who waited until the other seven cards had been drawn 'so he couldn't be called a cheater'. Serena ended up with a three of hearts, which paired with the three of spades Trevor had drawn. She returned the card to Eusine's possession hastily. She was completely unwilling to have to deal with another card incident involving Eusine. Ash had paired with Kathi Lee, Shauna with Calem, and Tierno with Eusine by default. Everyone seemed mostly content with the outcome, to the point that Serena was tempted to Ask Eusine if something had gone wrong with the lack of cooperation she had been fighting all day. Somehow, Ash convinced everyone to give Serena the master bedroom, which she tried to argue to no avail. Eusine and Tierno took the single downstairs bedroom, while the other two pairs occupied the other upstairs bedroom. Clemont pulled a small device and set a value on it, revealing it as a timer. "I'll give you all thirty minutes to get situated and be asleep before I start my two hour watch. Ash, just so you know, I'm waking you up first."

Ash nodded, clearly having expected the duty. Everyone exchanged their goodnights and retreated to various rooms to gather their few belongings. "Light mode: Night," spoke Kathi Lee aloud. The command instantly dimmed all the lights along the walls to a dull glow, just barely bright enough for one to find their way along the hall if necessary.

Clemont stared at one of the fixtures on the wall for a moment, seemingly in thought, before turning to Serena and Ash, both of whom were saying good night quietly to each other. "Listen you two." His voice was soft, and urgent. "I want you both to be extremely careful tonight, especially if and when you do a shift with my machine."

Ash nodded solemnly. "We understand. I'll have Hawlucha and Greninja sleep in shifts in my room."

Serena gazed at her single poké ball for a brief second before opening it and releasing Sylveon. "I'll let Sylveon out to sleep with us. If something happens, we'll be ready."

Some of the concern alleviated itself from Clemont's countenance. "Thank you two, really. I couldn't do this without your help."

It was a small comfort that Clemont retained complete faith in their own traveling group. _You don't have the luxury of time to be worrying about this. Ash can wait for Braixen and Pancham._ Serena retrieved her single pair of pajamas from the part of Clemont's bag where he stored Bonnie's things and headed up to the master bedroom. Just before she arrived, she veered left into the rather small bathroom to get changed, taking care to transfer her card from her day clothes to her night garb. It was disconcerting for such an extravagant master bedroom to have such a pitifully small accompaniment. She shook her strange thoughts off as she reentered the room where Eusine had most recently confronted her and found Trevor seated cross-legged on a sleeping bag laid out near the wall opposite the bed by the door. He was completely absorbed into his camera, barely reacting to the presence of another person in the room. He only reacted when Sylveon padded up to the boy and took an interest in the pictures. Trevor broke out into a grin immediately. "Do you like the pictures, Sylveon? I took them all myself. Someday, I'm going to have a picture of every pokémon on this camera!" his face shown with boundless ambition, and Sylveon nodded excitedly.

Serena grinned. "Are you alright with sleeping on the floor, Trevor? I don't mind switching with-"

"I know you don't have your sleeping bag with you, Serena, so don't worry about it. It's not a problem for me." Trevor finished his interruption with a glance up at his roommate and a small smile.

Caught in her bluff, Serena nodded gratefully and sat down on the bed. Sylveon realized what its trainer was doing and bounded across the room and up onto the bed, curling up much in the way it had when Serena was unconscious. Another thought struck her. "Trevor, did you notice what's been happening to everyone?" she asked cautiously, not sure if she was making the wisest decision.

Trevor placed his camera on the ground. "If you mean our division over specific issues, then it would be hard to miss."

 _He has a point._ "Well, what do you think about it?" Serena wanted to ask what side he was on, but such a divisive question would surely rub the photographer the wrong way.

"It's just a natural result of nobody agreeing on to what degree Sawyer is involved in all of this, as well as some disconcerting events created by our group's more volatile members. It doesn't help that several people are looking directly to you for their opinions." He took a slight pause before his final statement, but forced it out anyways.

Serena could feel indignation swelling up within her. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm not trying to influence anyone. I just want to find my pokémon."

Trevor shook his head and sighed. "That's why it works, Serena. I meant no offense by my statement, but I apologize regardless. Think of it like this: you'll be extremely integral in holding our merry band of friendship that Calem weaved together long enough to find Bonnie, the others and the real criminal." His hand hovered over his camera.

"And after that, Trevor? Are we still friends after tomorrow?" she asked.

Trevor let the question hang in the air for an uncomfortably long period of time. "No matter what happens or what anyone does, I will be your friend, Serena. I can't speak for the others, but I will be your friend."

Somehow, the answer only made Serena feel worse, the implications of his clear expectation of a catastrophe the following day doing little to reassure her. Unable to think any reply that wouldn't potentially inflame the boy, she decided to change the subject. "Are you going to sleep?" she wondered aloud, indicating that he was still fully dressed.

Trevor looked down at his clothes, as if noticing them for the first time himself. "Ah, yes. I'm going to be looking over my photos for a while. I'm a bit of an insomniac. You can sleep, but I'll be up for a while still."

Nothing in Trevor's tone indicated sarcasm or room for debate, so Serena simply acknowledged his decision and got into her own bed for the night. She could feel her mind starting to race with the days events and the potentially ruinous possibilities tomorrow brought. For a moment she was tempted to get up and run around to make herself too tired to stay awake. It was then that she happened to brush up against Sylveon and feel the soft rise and fall of the pokémon's breathing as it slept. _You have to get in touch with reality. Your problems are secondary to your pokémon, and you can't help your pokémon if you don't get any sleep. So sleep._ Her hand drifted over and grasped one of Sylveon's feelers before the world fell away from her once again.

* * *

Trevor rose up from his spot on the floor, scattering the photographs he had laid out around and across his legs everywhere throughout his bed space. He didn't need to check his camera to know that it was extremely late. Given the day's events and his potentially spectacular blunder the previous evening, he would have preferred to curl up and sleep much in the way his roommate Serena and her sylveon were currently doing, but he couldn't. _The things I do for a good shot..._ The photographer raised his lens and inspected it, finding the surface of the camera as impeccable as usual. He wanted to get closer, and even began to edge towards the bed before the thought had finished running through his head, but common sense stopped him. The two hadn't been asleep long, and there was no way he trusted himself to be able to approach them without detection. Instead, he affixed the camera lens on one of its more powerful zoom settings and readied the shot from his position over his sleeping bag. To get what he wanted, the angle had to be perfect. It was incredibly fortunate that Sylveon had chosen to sleep exactly on the other side of Serena, connected only by one of Sylveon's feelers and Serena's hand. Preferably, he could get closer and encompass only Sylveon's sleeping form in the shot, but there was no promise that his subject wouldn't awaken if he attempted to do so. Sure, he had taken pictures of sylveon before, but never while they were asleep. He adjusted the device to the extent of his ability, but despite his efforts wasn't able to completely rub Serena out of the shot. He sighed to himself and mentally added that he could just keep taking pictures if he wished until he found one that he liked. It wasn't as if Sylveon was going anywhere. He pressed the activation button on the camera, triggering a bright flash that startled both Trevor and Sylveon, the latter snapping awake while the former stumbled on himself and collapsed in a heap over his sleeping bag. "Syl?" the pokémon sounded deliriously, trying to keep its voice low for its trainers sake.

A myriad of curses for himself rushed into Trevor's mind for compromising his operation. If Sylveon woke Serena, he couldn't guarantee that the girl would be understanding of him, especially after what he had said to her. From his awkward position that haste had created for him on the ground, he urged Serena's pokémon to shut its eyes again. He heard the pokémon repeat its name to itself a few more times before yawning, and then silence. With all the caution he could afford, Trevor slowly allowed his head to rise to where he could see his roommates. He had to hold back his sigh of relief when he realized that Sylveon had indeed given up on finding the source of its rousing for fear of spoiling his luck. A quick shift on his camera's settings adjusted to prevent the flash from activating in such low lighting. With all the haste of a sunrise, Trevor stood up again. As his camera again began to run through the shockingly long checklist of requirements to fulfill that he imposed upon himself, his hands started to shake. That was odd. Even when he had taken that picture of Articuno through a blizzard, his hands had remained perfectly still, the camera taking the role of an immovable object for him to anchor himself on. With unmistakable irritation, he lowered his camera and looked at his hands. Even without the trusted tool risen to perform the task Trevor had assigned himself, his hands still trembled in trepidation of some unknown force. _What is wrong with me?! It's just a picture. What am I doing? Wait..._ Trevor's mind recalled the crystal clear memory of his chase yesterday. Even though the picture had been foggy, the fact that he had photographed what he at the time believed to be a criminal and, indeed, could very well still be a criminal, had left his hands shaking irregularly as he and his friends had inserted themselves into the investigation using Trevor's photo. He forced one of his hands into his pocket, but he could tell it was still afflicted with the same problem. _This has nothing to do with Serena. You need to get over your last picture and take the next one. Look at your last picture. It's just Sylveon. Look at it. It's just Sylveon. LOOK AT IT!_

Trevor's other hand pulled up the last picture he took, obeying his frayed mind. The image flying out of the screen back at him was one of action, partially tilted in its capturing of the boy's shock when the flash came on. With a pang, he realized that the circumstances of the photo's creation weren't too different from that of his shot of Sawyer. He hadn't been expecting the flash on that night either. He quickly scrutinized the photo, all at once desperate to show that it was unique to the other photo he had taken in Cinder Town. _That's a shame... the bed obscured most of Sylveon because the flash startled me. You can barely see them now. Weird. It's still in focus. I can even still see Serena... holding Sylveon's feeler?_ He zoomed in on the image that had captured his attention. In the dim lighting of the room, it was difficult to make out, even with the flash, but Serena was certainly gripping Sylveon's feeler tightly.

With a bit of effort, Trevor recollected seeing Serena walking with Sylveon during the previous day in a similar arrangement. He also noticed that the bandages covering her hands from the morning were absent. A sinking feeling began to fester in his gut. He continued to observe the photo, this time only looking at Serena's hands. Calem's voice rang in his ears. _"She was attacked by a mega blaziken. She got hurt trying to chase it."_

Calem was never wrong, and Trevor needed to prove that, even more than he had felt the desire to prove himself right in his capturing of Sawyer's flight from the law. Unfortunately, he found himself unable to discern anything more meaningful from his photo. He nearly caterwauled in frustration, until a much more dangerous thought crossed his mind. Wandering eyes drifted away from the camera they owned and over to the bedframe containing the subject in question. There was no more time to be nervous, not when two people had their reputation on the line and several others were in danger of being harmed. With precision, Trevor made his way directly over to Serena's bedside, with nary a single sound. He again raised his weapon of choice into the air, but paused. Serena's hand was turned the wrong way. Trevor silently cursed his luck, but didn't falter, instead reaching out gingerly with a single hand towards Serena's. If Ash or Tierno saw this, he figured they would slap him. With two gentle fingers, he made contact with Serena's isolated hand, drawing no reaction from the performer. _She must be even more exhausted than I thought._ With surgical precision, he turned Serena's hand over, exposing her palm. Before she could adjust herself, Trevor removed his hand, whipped out his camera, and snapped several photos of the pink, slightly scarred skin with his own steady hands. Deciding against risking moving Sylveon to get to the other hand, Trevor retreated, his prize contained in his photo reel. All of his printed photos were gathered and stuffed haphazardly into his backpack. The bent photos could be replaced. Learning the truth couldn't. Trevor looked at his most recent photo. Then he looked at another one. Then he looked at another one. Then he turned his camera off. There was no mistaking his camera this time. He was unequivocally right. Serena was lying to everyone, and he had the chance to expose her, maybe even catch the true criminal in the process. He looked at his hands. They were shaking again. He clenched his hands into fists, but the shaking continued. Desperate to win the approval of his own body, he looked at the photos again, as if to reassure himself of the validity of his own claim. Only when Trevor's hands finally stop shaking did he pull out Serena's town map from his bag and begin to fiddle with the source code.

* * *

Eusine opened his pocket watch. The hands, glowing faintly in the dark, told him he still had five minutes of his shift left. He cursed Ash for forcing him to take a shift guarding the scientist's crude contraption right in the middle of the night, a favorite pastime of his as of late. Having satisfactorily given Ash a proper explanation in no uncertain terms why his decision was wrong in his mind, Eusine sighed and realized he was back to having nothing to do. He felt the urge to punch the target he was told to protect. _Nobody wants this piece of junk. If anyone was going to fiddle with it, it would be me, and I don't even care if they find the stupid girl or not. I'm clearly the only one with a real plan here anyways._

With his own remark, a scowl formed on the man's face as he remembered the dependency he had on the criminals in their group. _Of all people, they should have understood my devotion, and more importantly been willing to do what I asked for the payment I promised._ He sat down and withdrew his deck of cards, tossing them back and forth in a display that would garner attention and wonder had he done it in public, instead serving as a strange ambiance to his thoughts.

The pawns in his little game were starting to line up, of that much Eusine was certain. What was important was keeping them where they were until he was ready to strike, notably through the use of his hired hands if they would cooperate and his main plans fell through. Not to mention the moves being made outside his control. If he wanted to catch Suicune, he realized, then he would have to do more to ensure that Diantha, Serena, and certainly Ash were unable to interfere. He resolved to attend to this issue with a new vigor in the morning. _And even if everything else fails and I have to take them all on... I still have my ace in the hole..._

Satisfied with his presumption of the current situation, Eusine gathered up his playing cards and reinserted them into his pocket, drawing his hand out with the pocket watch to check it again. He momentarily considered travelling to awaken Calem, who ironically had been the most open with sharing information with him regarding the investigation, but decided against it for the moment, unwilling to let himself be called a man without honor who didn't follow up on his word, even if only shirking a moment of standing. He was almost prepared to take his leave when the machine suddenly began to beep incessantly. Startled, Eusine jumped out of his seat and face the source of the noise with a swish of his cape. A yellow dot had appeared on the screen and the machine no longer appeared to be searching for the girl. A sharp jolt of panic bolted up Eusine's spine. If anyone tried to guard this machine after him, they'd know immediately that either he, Ash or Clemont himself had broken the machine, and there was no way he could work with such a public target as the one who halted their search progress painted on his back. A few strides over to the problem later, Eusine considered the conundrum. While he was no stranger to machines, the device in front of him carried an unmistakably impossible air to it. There was no way he could decipher how to troubleshoot such a unique sort of building method. _I have to fix this. If I don't... then, well, I might have to try again next year._ The thought of another year of pursuits caused Eusine to finally slug the object of his fury right in its side.

Incredibly, this action caused the beeping of the machine to cease and reactivated the searching mode. Eusine's fist had actually left a small dent in the siding of the tracker and he looked at the fist and the now working machine in incredulity. "If that doesn't say something about the boy's craftsmanship, I don't know what does," he informed the zero people around him.

In any case, Eusine was now again off the hook, possibly even able to win some favor with Clemont for fixing his contraption. He didn't even proceed to check his pocket watch, instead heading for Calem's room to remove of him the sleep he now needed so desperately. His hand barely hovered around the upstairs bedroom door, and when it snatched the handle he practically threw it open, only stopping himself to prevent the other occupant of the room from waking. He took a deep breath and composed himself before roughly shaking Calem, who was immobile on the ground, for a few seconds until the man sat up, delirious. "Go away, Sunshine, I'm sleeping."

Eusine's face contorted in contempt and disgust. "I'm not your sunshine, friendship boy. It's time for your shift and for me to sleep."

Calem blinked a few times, like he wasn't sure what he was looking at. Some realization eventually dawned upon him, however, and he quickly withdrew a poké ball and released Spike. "Spike, go watch the machine downstairs for two hours and then get Tierno to replace you," he ordered.

The charlatan's mouth fell open. "I need your spot, Calem, I must sleep." His pleas were met by snoring as Spike lumbered off to take Eusine's place.

All manner of terrible things to do to Calem entered Eusine's thoughts. Instead of doing any of them, he stepped quietly out of the room and closed the door softly. He couldn't do anything to Calem to truly anger him, not with the level of battle prowess he had. The unfairness of it all left Eusine wishing to scream aloud, but he again held himself back. There was some semblance of maturity to be expected from his age, after all. With another swish of his cape, he made his way downstairs and to the main entrance. The sound of rain had finally ceased, allowing him to hear the sound of the door creaking as he forced it open. _If I can't sleep, then I will work._

* * *

Meowth was bored. Waiting for a twerp to blunder into an expertly laid trap that stemmed directly from the genius of its creator was rarely tedious. Waiting to be rescued from an unknown location, likely by twerps, was insufferably humiliating and boring to wait for. _Leave it to da twerps ta be inconvenient._ The pokémon sighed as another wave of drowsiness washed over it. Sleep was extremely tempting, to the point where Meowth felt its eyelids start to droop uncontrollably at a consistent rate. It didn't help that a few stray spores from the spore attack still drifted aimlessly around the room. To counter this, the pokémon's sharp claws had been raked across its owner's face several times to allow consciousness to remain. It couldn't sleep, not when late night was the best opportunity for escape. Without natural light in the room, the time was impossible to discern, but Meowth could presume that night had fallen based on the circadian rhythms of the humans in the room, its cellmate included. Bonnie was sleeping strangely soundly for a prisoner, though Meowth had just presumed that the respite was peaceful due to exhaustion rather than the comfort of the cold concrete floor. Seeing the girl involuntarily brought up again the question of whether Meowth would be taking her with him when he ditched the cell. _I can't trust her. She'll run right back to da twerps, and den where will I be? Dey're probably werkin wit da law by now, and I can't exchange one cell fer another! I don't care what happened between us, dat twerp is trouble wit a capital T, and I can't get soft when its my own hide on da line._

The conviction in Meowth's thoughts faltered when it laid eyes upon the innocence of the child in front of him. While Meowth would never admit as such to Jessie or James, it wasn't a fan of attacking people as young as Bonnie, unless of course they happened to have extremely rare or powerful pokémon. It knew that Jessie had no such moral qualms and that James agreed with Jessie to maintain some semblance of a façade of peace in their balloon, so it kept its mouth shut on the subject as well. Deciding to make sure it could actually escape before debating whether or not it was even worth dragging the twerp along, Meowth silently padded over to the cell door. Glancing around, the two guards were still out cold, and the Blaziken hadn't moved in hours. With large amounts of hesitation to ensure precision, Meowth unsheathed one of its claws and inserted it into the lock on the door. As soon as the sound of claw touching metal unleashed a small jangling sound that Meowth itself could barely hear, the flames on Blazekin's hands suddenly ignited. Meowth froze. In a single, swift movement, Blaziken was standing as directly over Meowth as the bars would allow. This inspired Meowth to immediately withdraw its claw and sheepishly back up a few steps, out of range of any potential attacks. "Oh, uhh, didn't know you were still awake, pal. Don't mind me, I was just testing da lock to make sure it was werking propery, and it is, so you can go back ta, you know, brooding, or whatever it is yer doing." The tone Meowth chose was fast and low, thinking on the fly while preventing any humans from waking up.

Blaziken didn't budge. "Blaze," it growled.

Meowth couldn't hold back a small eep. "Okay, fine, ya caught me. I was trying ta get out. Can ya blame me? Yer accommodations ain't exactly spectacular."

Blaziken didn't respond, and instead turned away to walk back to its spot on the far wall. "Hey, where ya going? Am I dat boring to ya?" Meowth asked. If it couldn't get out, it could at least try to get some information.

"Blaze blaziken?" asked Blaziken in a mostly disinterested tone.

"You should listen ta me because we're both pokémon. It can't be fun standing in one place all day, so why not talk ta somebody who can hear what ya say?" Internally Meowth begged for the gambit to work. "If it helps, I'm only offerin out of my own boredom over here," the pokémon added.

The fire and fighting type reached its spot on the wall and leaned against its destination. "Blaziken."

"Yer trainer is asleep. He doesn't have ta know, does he?" Meowth punctuated its statement by raising a claw to its mouth in a shushing motion.

Blaziken shook its head. "Blaze Blaze."

Meowth was incredulous. "Well if those two bozos didn't train ya, why would you even think your trainer would know you're talking ta little ol me?"

One of Blazekin's hands flared up, and Meowth was able to see for the first time the circlet attached to the pokémon's wrist. A small red stone protruded from a hole in the silver piece of jewelry. The shiny object captured Meowth's undivided attention as it glowed with reflected firelight. "Dat... dat's a mega stone. You ain't saying you think your trainer will figure out what you're doing. You're just being loyal, right?"

Blaziken nodded, and dimmed the fire on its wrist, veiling it again in darkness. "Well, I have to respect day kind of loyalty. Reminds me of my devotion to da boss. Before ya leave me alone with the twerp though, at least tell me who dis trainer is. Da suspense is killing me."

Blaziken immediately shook its head. Meowth frowned. "Aw, don't be like dat. Yer leaving me high and dry here! We share the same earth, the same air, the same sky... why not share a bit of info? I'll even get on all four paws for ya!" the pokémon dropped to all four paws as a demonstration of its groveling ability.

There was a long pause. Meowth couldn't use its eyes, but it know that Blaziken was at least considering what it was saying. "Blaziken. Blaze Blaziken Blaze Blaze Blaziken." It spoke sparingly, using as little language as possible.

Meowth smirked to itself. "If your trainer is dat strong, why doesn't he just get dat Suicune himself? Why bother with da kidnapping?"

Another long pause. This time, Meowth feared that it had pushed its luck a bit too far and was unwilling to respond. It had convinced itself of its own failure before Blaziken spoke again. "Blaziken. Blaziken."

Meowth affixed itself into a sitting position. "Really? Dat's dumb. If ya want something, go get it. Ya wouldn't catch me doing something as dumb as dat."

Blaziken scoffed and lowered its head, now clearly done conversing. Meowth heaved a sigh. Maybe calling the plan of the enemy dumb to the face of the enemy was a bad move, but at least Blaziken had revealed a motive. If there was one thing Meowth understood, it was the importance of motives and determination. _And if da Blaziken isn't lying to me... den did guy really is insane. I need to warn Jessie and James about dis..._ Meowth looked around, at the sleeping people and the drowsing yet attentive guard pokémon. For all the talk and bravado, there was still no clear method of escape from the cell other than the front door, and the Blaziken clearly wasn't about to falter in its guard duty. Meowth sighed. _... If I ever get outta here._

* * *

Sawyer jolted awake with a gasp, instantly alert. His eyes scanned his surroundings for threats, and, seeing only the walls of the green basket that formed the base of team rocket's balloon around him, he let himself breathe again. Test one was complete. Looking up, the sky wasn't moving around the obnoxious portrait of a meowth that comprised the balloon part of the vehicle, so he wasn't in the air. That was the second thing to check for. It was funny how easy it was to develop such a formula for searching unfamiliar territory when given the motive of self-preservation. Only one objective remained. Sawyer slowly rose for the seventh time that night, allowing only his head to peek out of the safety of the basket, and he scoured the ground for the owners of the balloon, hoping that they were still asleep. Alarm bells went off everywhere in his mind when he saw the rags that had served as their blankets laying unoccupied on the ground. "I'm telling you we can't do it, Jessie! It's a line we can't cross."

Sawyer whipped around to see Jessie and James speaking not a few meters away from the balloon. Jessie hushed James. "Shut it, James! The twerp will wake up again and try to run if you blab that loudly!" she hissed.

The trainer ducked right as the gazes of both criminals flitted over to the balloon. They held this silent stare for a while, and Sawyer waited to peek again until they resumed their conversation. "Sorry," responded James, lowering his voice. "But you have to see my point. No matter how much he offers us, we can't be prepared to commit that kind of crime. There's no coming back from this, you know that."

"There was no going back when we put these uniforms on," scoffed Jessie. "Grow some spine, James. The place will be deserted anyways because of the festival, so your bleeding heart doesn't have to get in the way."

James shook his head. "You and I both know that we wouldn't be doing this if we knew for a fact it would result in death. My concern is with team rocket's entire operation in this region. If we do this in the way Eusine wants us to, we'll be all over the news as regional terrorists. Our potential to continue to operate with any sort of anonymity would be fully compromised. The boss would hate that, no matter how much money we get offered."

Jessie turned the argument over in her head. "That is true... and if we anger the boss, there's no telling what happens to us... Fine then! We won't do it! I can't believe you thought we should in the first place!" Jessie called out to nothing.

James slapped a hand to his face. "It was your idea to even entertain his offer..." he muttered.

Jessie was about to lay into James for his comment, when a voice rang out to them. "Turning down my generosity behind my back is rather rude, wouldn't you say?" The voice, undoubtedly Eusine's sounded disappointed, even hurt. "Personally, I'm shocked. What happened to honor among thieves?"

James' voice hardened. "You're too cowardly to even be a thief! I know what you did to the twerpette, old man! Show yourself!" At this point, everyone had thrown away any notions of keeping Sawyer from awakening, had he not been awake already like he was.

Listening to James' command, Eusine appeared along with his Alakazam in front of the two. "I must say, team rocket makes itself hard to find here. You're much more flamboyant in other regions."

"That's the main reason we can't do this, you cad. Even if you hadn't gone out of your way to try to ruin the lives of the twerps, team rocket doesn't need a high profile in this region. It's bad for business," explained James.

Eusine raised an eyebrow. "I would think you two would be grateful for any violent actions or words directed at these 'twerps', as you call them. What happened to the heartless team rocket of old?"

Jessie scoffed. "we aren't softies, fool. The twerps are our target though, not anyone else's. Only we have the right to mess with them. You got that?" she threatened.

"Well, pardon me then. How about this offer for you: follow through with my request to destroy all of the discussed buildings in town at the same time, and I'll not only double your pay, I'll make sure the blame falls on everything but team rocket. In addition, you will have my personal guarantee that my interference in the lives of our group will be at an end. Deal?" He stuck out a hand.

James stared at the hand, uncertain. Jessie placed a hand on James' shoulder. "It sounds like a good deal, James, wouldn't you agree?" She was no longer facing Sawyer, so he couldn't see her face in the light of the moon.

There was a pause, during which Eusine's arm got tired and he switched arms, holding out his other arm more insistently. Finally, James took the bait. "Fine. Consider it done," he promised, shaking the man's hand.

The grin on Eusine's face was even more radiant than the moonlight. "Excellent. Remember, wait until tomorrow evening. A ruckus is only as good as the timing of its invocation."

James released himself from his new partner and waved the man off. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, gramps. Just make sure that you hold up your end of the bargain. This isn't going down as team rocket's mistake."

Jessie snickered to herself in delight as Eusine nodded. "My word is yours, and it binds me to uphold my side of the bargain. I bid you good night." With that, both he and Alakazam disappeared.

Sawyer didn't hesitate. He didn't know the limits of Eusine, but he could certainly take team rocket. He made a small rustling sound as he clambered out of the basket. James turned towards the noise and found a leaf blade at his neck. Sawyer himself stood defiantly in front of the two, for once that day without any fear of the repercussions of his actions. "I heard everything. I don't care what you think you're doing with Eusine, because it isn't going to work. If I can't help my friends, I can at least stop you."

To Sawyer's shock and mild indignation, neither criminal seemed particularly concerned with the threat. Jessie, in particular, actually seemed elated. "You heard him, James. Pay up." She held out a hand expectantly.

James looked at the demand and shot Sawyer an irritated glance. "This is what I get for thinking a twerp won't try to stop the bad guys." He withdrew several crackers from his pocket and forfeited them to Jessie, who snatched the prize immediately and scarfed all of them down at once.

Sawyer shot Sceptile a glance, and the pokémon pushed the blade a little closer to James, forcing the man to take notice. "Do you think this is a joke? You just agreed to blow up part of the town! Where would you even get the supplies to pull something off like that on short notice?"

Jessie shrugged. "Say what you will about us, but don't knock on our source of weaponry. The boss always treats his favorite employees correctly. And really, twerp, why would you ever consider believing that we would take orders from that failure?" She waved a hand towards the empty air wh ere Eusine had been standing. "As much as team rocket supports wanton destruction, we can't go around agreeing to ever crazy deal to destroy something we get, especially when there's so little in it for us."

James looked like he wanted to nod, but couldn't from his position. "She's right, twerp. We're criminals, not monsters. We wouldn't kill anybody or destroy anything that as large as an entire town, not even to benefit the boss. Team rocket can't rule a world without people and pokémon, after all. As for the other twerps, well you heard us. They're our target, not some purple freak who thinks he knows the game he's playing when we've been in it far longer than he has."

Sawyer considered the statement. It was true that Ash and team rocket shared some sort of bond, and as things stood, the two people in front of him were the only ones making his contact with the others feasible. _This is the only way I can stay near my friends and away from him..._ He shuddered before he could even think the name. "I... I'm sorry, James, Jessie. Let him go, Sceptile." Sceptile immediately released its focus and allowed the move to dissipate. "I should have trusted you two not to stoop to that level. You two were willing to help me and I'm being skeptical. I apologize." He bowed his head in shame. It felt terrible to let down hospitable people.

James shrugged. "No need to apologize, we're used to ostracization, and it's only fair a rookie criminal gets a bit of help when he deals with it for the first time. When the chips are down, we side with whatever threatens the peace that isn't team rocket."

Sawyer frowned angrily. "I'm not a criminal. I'm not like you two." The comment inspired a hearty laugh from Jessie.

"That's rich. You had the mega stone, kid. We know a crook when we see one. Take purple suit for example. He had disingenuous written all over him. You do too, sometimes, you know that?" she spoke in between chuckles.

"I did nothing wrong," repeated Sawyer. "The same way you have done nothing wrong for this investigation, I have done nothing wrong here," Sawyer insisted trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince team rocket.

"Lie to yourself if it helps, kid," spoke Jessie. "The fact of the matter is, right now, you're like us, the outsider. There's nothing worse than being the outsider. The get nothing in terms of help, so we decided to be your outsider buddies! You can write this down in your notebook, twerp. Guilty or not, you don't do yourself any favors by running the way you do."

Sawyer dropped his gaze. Jessie had brought up the very reason he couldn't go back to be with his friends. His voice died down to a whimper. "I can't. I can't write anything in my notebook. It's not mine anymore."

* * *

 _Serena rolled over in her sleep. Instead of meeting more of her comfortable bed in the mayor's old manor, she received a face full of fur. Startled, her eyes snapped open and she pushed herself backwards to get out of what she assumed was Sylveon, only to collide with Sylveon, the pokémon not having moved from the position she thought it was in. The jostling cause both Sylveon and the new creature to stir as morning light flitted into the room through the window. Serena squinted as the intruder let out a small yawn, and readied a call to attack for Sylveon, only to freeze when she noticed the pair of red sunglasses sitting atop the head of the lump in front of her. Her heart skipped another beat when a brown stick with a ribbon tied to it became visible from the over the side of the bed. The stick twisted and rose to reveal none other than her mixing Braixen attached to it, the lump on her bed rolling over to reveal her pancham. Both pokémon looked at her with such unabashed joy and admiration for her as her command for Sylveon got caught in her throat. She wanted to say something, anything, ask a million questions as to how her pokémon had returned to her, but she settled for grabbing both of them and hugging them tightly. Nothing else could be as important as the moment she was having with her lost friends right now. Sylveon completed the group hug, and the reunited family sat there in the bed for a moment, enjoying their reunion and relishing in their bond. From the doorway, someone cleared his throat. Serena immediately released her pokémon at the noise, and turned with embarrassment to its source. "I understand, Serena. No need for embarrassment. You'll be glad to know we found your pokémon and, well, everything while you were sleeping. We let them stay here and wait for you to wake up, but I guess they fell asleep too," he spoke, chuckling a bit at his notion._

 _Serena finally found her voice. "Why didn't you wake me up when you found something?! Who did this?! Why did he do it?! Where is he?!" she exclaimed in a flustered manner._

 _Calem sighed. "We didn't wake you because there was no time. We had to act or lose him, and even then we were only quick enough to get back the things he stole. We even got back Jenny's growlithe, if you can believe that."_

 _A sinking feeling began to develop in Serena's gut, especially in the way Calem appeared almost too cheery to see her. He was completely abandoning the calm and cool persona she envisioned him as when she thought of him. "Calem... where's Ash?" she asked quietly._

 _Calem placed a hand on the back of his neck and rubbed it sheepishly. "Right... well, you see, he left. Some gym leader girl showed up and he just left with her without a second thought. He did tell me to tell you that you did a great job as his companion, but he didn't want to get in the way of your dream or your pokémon's dreams, so he left without telling you. Nice of him, isn't it?" Calem grinned._

 _Serena panicked. "I have to talk to Ash. I need to see him right now." She started to get out of bed, but Pancham and Braixen held her back while Sylveon wrapped a feeling around her wrist and held on much tighter than normal, giving no impression that it would allow Serena to leave. "What are you all doing?! Let me go!" she insisted angrily._

 _Calem shook his head as Serena tried and failed to get past her own pokémon. "I'm sorry Serena, but we all agreed that this was the best thing for you and Ash." He paused as Serena finally stopped struggling and stared at the ceiling, breathing heavily. "You'll understand soon. Everyone has to be a substitute at some point in their lives."_

Serena shot out of bed, clutching a pillow in the strange combination of natural morning light and brightening fluorescent light. A scream sat frozen on her face. Sylveon instantly awoke at her side, ready for action, only to relax when it failed to sense danger. Serena scanned the room anyways, and dropped her pillow when she realized that Trevor had stopped flipping through his photographs and was staring at her strangely. "Bad dream?" he finally asked.

With a jolt, Serena realized she had been dreaming. "Yeah... sorry," she apologized. "I hope I didn't startle you."

Trevor smiled and rose, still dressed fully in his travel attire. "It's perfectly fine. Why don't you get dressed and come downstairs? Clemont sent word that his machine actually worked."


	10. Chapter 10: Write this Down

The mirror refused to lie to Serena. Generally, she preferred to keep her attire immaculate, only allowing for the occasional discrepancy to slip through, if she was feeling lazy. Even with that mindset, no matter how much she smoothed, ruffled, flattened, and tucked in, she couldn't prevent herself from looking like she had fought a grimer and lost. Of course in the excitement of Sawyer's disappearance and her desire to get out of her soaked clothes she had forgotten to wash them before going to sleep. Of course the mud that had found its way onto her once pretty outfit had hardened overnight, making it nigh impossible to completely remove without time Serena didn't have. She couldn't exactly just change the hem of her skirt either, the way she had when her outfit was torn right before her pokémon performance. It didn't help that she was still fighting sleep and worry about her pokémon, betrayed by her countenance. She couldn't decide if her eyes were full of pain, worry, determination, or a combination of the three. Fortunately, Shauna had lent her a hairbrush, so she was at least able to tame her short hair. There was no getting around it: until she found her spare clothes, she was stuck with her current dismal appearance. She reached out and placed a hand on the mirror, over the reflection of the blue ribbon affixed to her outfit.

 _"_ How do I look, Ash?" she mumbled into her reflection. A small smile formed on her face at the absurdity of such a question. Of course she looked terrible. The reflection smiled back at her.

 _Ash probably would lie for my sake... he'll probably say I look great. He won't tell me the truth. I need to know the truth about him, and about his previous companions. I need to know that he wouldn't do what Eusine said he did._

Serena took her new mission, withdrew her hand, and made for the door. She flung the door open, ready to hunt the entire house for Ash so she could extort the information she needed from him. As it happened, Ash was waiting for her, leaning against the wall on the opposite hallway next to Sylveon. When he heard the door open, he turned his attention to it, eyes lit up and a friendly smile on his face. When he saw Serena, his face contorted in worry. "Serena?" he said, as if he didn't recognize her.

Suddenly getting Ash's opinion of her current appearance seemed like a bad idea. Serena mentally braced herself. "You forgot to get those washed, didn't you?" he asked tentatively.

A small nod from Serena was her prompt for Ash to comment on the situation. When he didn't, Serena pushed him in the right direction. "Just be honest, Ash. How bad is it?" Silently she begged for him to call her a disheveled mess.

Ash paused for the longest possible time. "It'll be fine, Serena. It's not that bad, and we'll have your other clothes back soon anyways."

The answer was not the one that Serena had wanted to hear, and she stood up straighter. "Thanks," she responded unemotionally. The performer beckoned to Sylveon and started off towards the stairs and the dining room before Ash could try to walk with her. She was too frustrated to care that she had just blown him off, and ignored the hurt and confused look on his face. _He lied. I know I look terrible. He won't be honest if he thinks it'll hurt my feelings._ Any care for what others would think about her look melted away in the moment. All she could focus on was her desire to find both the criminal who stole her pokémon and the truth behind whatever Ash was hiding from her and everyone. At the foot of the stairs stood Trevor, who stopped fiddling with his camera when he saw the group of three approaching. "Hey. We just saw Kathi Lee and the other two bodyguards off. Clemont called nurse Joy and she informed him that Gardevoir fully awake, Diantha is starting to get better, and the doctor arrived, so Kathi Lee insisted that she and the bodyguards be there to help Diantha recover. We promised to meet with her later in the day. Now that you're ready, we can see what Clemont's machine found. You're ready, right?"

"Yes. Let's see what Clemont found," she said, returning to her normal voice. She appreciated that Trevor made no comment on her attire or the fact that Ash was trailing behind her. The group made their way to the dining hall and was greeted by the sight of everyone huddled around where Clemont's machine had been, though the machine itself was obscured from view. Team rocket and Sawyer had rejoined the group, albeit a slight distance separated from everyone else, leaving Calem as the only real outlier, standing off to the side, arms crossed as if he was angry. The trainer had changed clothes once more, donning a black and grey t-shirt with white paint spatters decorating it, grey camouflage pants, black boots, a black knit cap, and wide frame sunglasses completing a look that clashed horribly with his green bag. In a way, the random patterns on his attire were reminiscent of Serena's own clothes, although Calem had dressed as such by choice. Other than Shauna shooting Calem a glance every few seconds, the only other person doing anything of note in the room was Eusine, who was jumping form one foot to the other like a schoolchild that had just been told they would be going to recess early. When Ash entered the room behind Serena, he smirked. "You're acting just like a little kid, Eusine. What's up?" The look on his face implied that he had just dropped some hilarious inside joke that only he understood.

Eusine glanced up in irritation. "We're looking at the results of the scientist's project. Join us if you intend to be useful."

The statement cause everyone to take notice of the new arrivals. Again, nobody commented on Serena as she made her way to join their small circle. She briefly wondered if she looked as bad as she thought she did, but pushed the thought aside as Clemont welcomed them. He was sporting a confused smile. "Good, everyone's here. Most of you know this already, but for the sake of those who don't I'll explain again. Last night, the machine picked up two signals for Bonnie's location. I do not understand how this is possible, as the machine was programmed to pick up on only one signal and stop." The remark led to Eusine grinning even more widely, which Serena and several others found creepy. "Needless to say, one likely leads to Bonnie, and the other leads to something with Bonnie's energy signature. My first thought was of Squishy, but Squishy is with me, so it's more likely to be a trap if the criminal somehow knew how we would be tracking Bonnie." A hush fell over the room, nobody happy about Clemont's casual accusation, but nobody willing to do anything about it at the same time.

Clemont shifted his eyes from person to person, but he never settled on anyone, choosing to go on instead. "Put simply, I will need all of you to practice extreme caution as you investigate these areas. My machine can pinpoint these locations for you on a printed map, so it's best we print two and split up again." While he spoke, he pressed a few buttons on the remote attached to the machine.

Clemont's invention began to spit out two crude maps of the area. Calem had approached the group while they stared at the machine and its flashing lights. When Clemont noticed him, he raised an eyebrow. "Any word from Sanity?" he asked.

With a sigh, Calem shook his head. "Nothing. Sanity says it doesn't know the area well enough to follow those kind of instructions. It's best at teleporting to places that it has been to before. Searching like last night isn't used as often." As he finished his thought, Sanity appeared right next to him, head hung low in shame at its failure.

While Calem reassured Sanity of its incredible abilities, Clemont drew the group's attention again. "Alright then. Calem and I discussed things and decided that Calem, Serena, Sawyer, Clemont, Eusine, Jessie and James will pursue this target-" He pointed to the dot on the map that was farther away from the manor. "- and by default Shauna, Tierno, Trevor, and Ash will take on the other one. Don't even bother arguing about it, we don't have time. The groups are uneven as a result of one target being father away. It will be easier for those going after the closer target to get help if necessary. The rest of us need to be prepared to deal with whatever happens ourselves. There's no telling how long these maps will stay accurate for before Bonnie is moved. Let's go." He pressed a button on the machine, and it immediately shut itself off, all signs of life within the metal completely dying.

Among others, Ash, Tierno, and Eusine seemed to want to raise an argument, but nobody voiced an argument to the plan. Calem took the lead in his group, while Ash and Tierno had the map yanked from their yearning eyes before they could even consider taking it by Shauna, who took point position in the group of four. The paths that the two groups had to follow actually were the same for the first part of the journey that Clemont warned could take nearly an hour if his math was correct. Serena spent this time in their trek through the woods discussing rescue plans with Clemont, trying to ignore the annoying people in her group. Ash attempted several times to join their conversation, but Serena consistently found something for him to do that would prevent him from joining their conversation. Around the third time, Clemont confronted her about it, slowing his pace and causing them to lag behind the others. "Serena, there's not much more I can say about our plan, particularly since we don't know what to expect. Why are you brushing Ash off?" His voice lowered. "Did... something happen?"

Serena didn't respond for a moment. Whether something happened or not was actually not certain in her mind. All she knew was that Ash had lied to her. She informed Clemont of this. "Uh-huh. To be honest, I hadn't noticed, particularly with Bonnie on my mind," he admitted. "That being said, you and I both know that we're all hurting over friends right now. If Ash told a white lie to try to keep you from feeling worse, then you should be thanking him for caring about your feelings." He pushed his glasses up his face sagely.

"But what Eusine said-" she protested before Clemont shook his head, stopping her.

"I wasn't there when he revealed your card, and even now I only vaguely understand its implications. What I do comprehend is that he cannot be trusted. As I told you before, Serena, it's critical that you, Ash and I stick as close together as possible right now. I'm nearly certain now that there's two signals that someone fiddled with my machine and we have a mole in the group, possibly even the original criminal." He shot several glances in front of him to ensure that nobody could hear them. "I despise saying this, Serena, really, but they took Bonnie. Only someone who knows where we are and has a reason to want to attack us would do that, and it's not the red outfit people."

There was little to say in the face of Clemont's emotionless delivery. She could see the signs of a man being stoic in the face of adversity behind Clemont's glasses, but she also noticed the fear and confusion of an older sibling losing their younger relative. "I... suppose you're right, but this is different. If it's true, then it changes everything about Ash. How can we trust him if he that's how he treats his companions?" she felt her voice beginning to rise in fear and fought to quell her noise.

Clemont sighed. "The key word is if. Even _if_ this is true, it doesn't change the fact that Ash will be completely devoted to our group right now, when we need to stick together. This is a conversation for after we are a group of four again. I promise you that, Serena, as your friend."

It was annoying having so many friends that always sounded like they were right sometimes. She was trying to deal with a situation that would never even be a problem if she didn't solve the puzzle right in front of her face. "Alright, Clemont. Bonnie and our pokémon first."

Clemont smiled genuinely at Serena. "Thank you, Serena. I'm going to catch up to Calem. I believe we have nearly reached the intersection at which our two groups separate, and I want to ensure we go the right way."

With a bit of over exaggerated preparation, Clemont made his way to the point position in the group. Ash happened to choose that moment to resurface from some point in the woods that Serena had arbitrarily told him to scout. Even though he was dense, Serena could tell that he wanted to say something to her badly and was knew she wasn't seemingly willing to talk to him. A gush of uncontrollable guilt coursed through her, and she took the initiative to walk up to Ash and stand next to him, slightly startling the boy. His normal demeanor of boisterous confidence was replaced with reclusive shyness. Serena decided to take the initiative. "Ash, I need to apologize. I've been acting up a bit this morning. I'm sorry about that," she apologized.

Ash tilted his head. "I thought you were mad at me for something I did. Did I do something?" he asked tentatively.

Serena immediately shook her head, but didn't actually say anything for a moment. A dangerous thought had crossed her mind. "You didn't do anything, Ash. I've just been thinking about what you said, about what happens next after we finish things here and find our friends."

A serious look appeared on Ash's face. "You don't need to worry about that, Serena. We're going to find a way to work all that out soon," he reassured her.

"But... but what if we can't?" she found herself blurting out, grateful for their anonymity in the back of the group. "What if things just don't work out and we can't travel together anymore?" she fretted.

Ash, dropping his tentativeness for reassurance, placed a hand on Serena's shoulder. His hands were warm. "If a way doesn't exist yet, we'll make one. I promise you."

"I... don't know if I can believe that." The words stung to say out loud.

Ash didn't falter. "How can I make you believe me then?" he asked patiently.

The group in front of them had practically disappeared into the woods. "I don't know. I don't know and it's tearing me up inside, Ash. I don't know if my friends and pokémon are safe, and I don't know what the future holds for us. I don't even know if you-" She caught herself. At even this junction she found herself unable to utter the word that had tantalized her conscious ever since her first interaction with Ash. A single tear found itself rolling down her cheek.

Ash stared into Serena's eyes. There was something she had never seen before in them. "Serena, I don't know a lot of things. I'm worried about the safety of my pokémon and my friends. One thing I do know is that I will not rest until everything we care about is safe and sound. I've had this mentality since I started my journey. It led me through my biggest successes, my largest mistakes, and the toughest decisions that even now I look back on and think about sometimes. It's like this, Serena. No matter what I think about the future, no matter how impossible the success or failure in front of me is, I know that it's just another potential result based on the amount of determination I put into the present."

It was strange. Ash's maturity tended to vary on a wide spectrum based on the current situation, but now he was acting completely differently. It wasn't like Ash was young like Bonnie or a greenhorn trainer, but he didn't have all of the extra years of experience brought on by the end of the teen years like Calem. In his eyes reflected the experiences of people who had lived far longer than he had. Sadness mingled and danced with elation around a table of hardened experiences that had imprinted themselves upon the mind of the man in front of her. It was a new side of Ash that, for all of its wisdom and confidence, felt like his least confident persona. Serena wiped the tear from her face. "What if you don't know what future you want, then?" she asked.

Ash shrugged. "I really don't know, Serena. I've made decisions like that and, like I said, I don't know to this day if I did the right thing. All I know is that I have to keep going to make one of the happy futures for myself." He removed his hand from Serena and gave her a smaller version of his trademark smile, the new look in his eyes fading as quickly as it arrived. "We're going to lose everyone, by the way," he pointed out.

Serena turned a bit absentmindedly towards the forest that the group had disappeared into. "Yeah, we should go. Ash, thank you for the advice. I... just thank you. It means a lot." The less rational part of Serena's brain was still screaming at her to make a move, but she held out. Bonnie and her pokémon had to come first. "When we find something you'll be the first to know about it," she promised.

Ash smiled and gave her a thumbs up. "Great! I'll send Noivern or Talonflame over if we run into anything important. We'll meet up again once one of us has found Bonnie."

Serena nodded her agreement and the two made their way into the woods where their friends had disappeared. A short distance of walking allowed them to reunite with everyone as they waited on the people lagging in the back. Serena ignored all the annoyed comments she received, apologizing only to Clemont as the paths of the two groups finally diverged. _I have to find my pokémon soon. I don't know how much longer I can go before I accidentally spill something to Ash..._ Serena found herself walking through the woods with Sawyer, unsuccessfully trying to get the boy to open up as they made their way to the destination while team rocket flanked them.

Calem and Clemont took the point position, looking with interest at the map as they struggled to keep themselves on the right path. James spoke up when they all paused to reaffirm that said path they followed was correct. "Humor me, Calem. How did you manage to select these teams we find ourselves in?" he asked.

A head poked up and out from the map. Calem glanced around, like he had no idea who had said anything, until he rested his glasses on James. "Random draw," he blurted out, clearly distracted with other things.

James actually pouted a bit. Serena initially suspected he was just bored, but his pensive expression seemed to tell a different story, like he didn't trust Calem's decision-making. The pair of Clemont and Calem suddenly began walking again at a slightly more brisk pace. Sawyer, of all people, was staring daggers at James, who pretended not to notice. He quickened his pace to match Clemont's. Serena threw a questioning glance at James as she found herself walking in between Jessie and James. "Twerps. All the same," stated James, like that explained everything.

She folded her arms. "How are we all the same?" she asked indignantly.

Jessie shrugged. "It goes back to when the original twerp was starting out. It's different from twerp to twerp, but they're all insufferably moral. You can never get them to do anything wrong."

Serena had stopped listening when Jessie mentioned that everything could be traced back to Ash's origin. Of course she knew that team rocket had been pestering Ash since he started his journey, but it only then occurred to her that the two would be the only authority she could ask on his companions, notwithstanding Ash himself. _This is a terrible idea. But James said he and Jessie were rooting for me. But... it's team rocket, even if they know more about Ash's companions than everyone sans Ash himself. But the only way I can potentially learn anything about Ash's companions without having to spill my real secret to him is through them... I'm going to regret this._

"Jessie, James. I have a question for you." The sudden shift in the tone of her voice caused both people to raise an eyebrow, one with mild interest at being asked a question, the other with malign intention.

"Oh, do tell, twerp. This should be good," cajoled Jessie.

Serena ignored the sarcasm. "You know Ash well. Do you know his older companions, the ones before Clemont, Bonnie and I very well?" she asked without a wavering voice. There was no room to show uncertainty in front of Jessie.

Both members of team rocket's faces contorted in confusion, not expecting that sort of question. Jessie eventually laughed, an evil cackle that caused Clemont to actually look up and stare daggers at Jessie until she stopped. Reassured by Clemont's promise of getting involved should things get out of hand, she pressed on, in a lower voice. "I'm serious. It's important."

Jessie had barely calmed down enough to speak, but she still spoke for the two of them. "That's what makes it funny, twerp. Are you stressing that much about losing your twerp boyfriend? What about your precious pokémon?" she taunted.

"Ignore her," interrupted James immediately, but Serena was already nodding to him. She had run the same argument over in her mind far too many times that same day. "Of course I'm worried for them. That's why we're out here, putting one foot after the other until we find them. Before we reach that point, however, I decided that I'd ask you about Ash's former companions. Eusine told me some things that I-"

Jessie's eyes narrowed to tiny slits, while James folded his arms angrily. "Eusine told you something, did he? That won't do. Our knowledge is yours to use," Jessie promised with more eagerness to help than Serena had ever expected to hear out of the woman.

Still unsure why Jessie and James had suddenly developed such an aversion to several members of the group, Serena resolved to press on. "Well, since you're aware already, I'll be frank. Have any of the girls he's travelled with been... well, interested in him?" Just putting the question out there was enough to cause her to stare at the ground for several seconds. When she looked up, James was mulling over something in his mind, while Jessie was clearly attempting to do the same in between suppressed giggles. _At least one of them is taking this seriously._

James locked eyes with Jessie, and a silent message passed between them. "Alright," spoke James. "If you really feel you must know, then Misty is the only girl we ever noticed as having a crush on the twerp. May had Drew, Dawn, well, was a really good best friend, but she and Ash were too similar. Iris was a little kid. Of course that would just leave you, twerp," he explained.

Jessie shook her head empathetically. "Oh, you're being modest, James! That dumb, ugly water-type failure was head over heels for the twerp! They even seemed meant to be at some points..." she trailed off in reminiscence.

The flamboyance in Jessie's tone prevented Serena from immediately freaking out and trying to strangle Jessie. "Then why did she leave? Misty, that is."

Jessie sighed longingly. "Oh, twerpette, it was a heartbreak for the ages! She finally worked up the nerve to confess her feelings for him, only for the wretched man to reject her love in the most heartless way you could possibly imagine! I swear I'd never seen a child more crushed than she was in my entire lifetime!" She swooned, falling into Wobbuffet's arms. Serena stared at her curiously for a moment. Just yesterday, this woman had intimidated her. She tore her gaze away to face James. "We don't know," he answered bluntly. "Just because we make it our business to know everything about our enemy doesn't mean we know everything about our enemy."

Serena had to hold back a stinging remark regarding team rocket's penchant for failures of the sort. "Well, that's alright. I appreciate it James, really." She surprised herself by meaning what she said to him. Even though her real question of why Misty had left still hung ominously unanswered, some information was certainly better than no information.

The blue-haired man shrugged. "Never let it be said that we're heartless, like some other people here."

A gloved hand suddenly smacked him on the back of the head as Jessie moved around the two to be standing behind James. "Speak for yourself, James. If messing with them gets us pokémon and gives me an interesting love story to witness, then there's no reason not to get involved!"

James rubbed the back of his head, but did nothing in retaliation. "I've told you a million times that messing with love never ends with anything but a blast-off for us, Jessie." There was irritation on his face, but his tone suggested that he knew he was talking to a deaf person.

"You'll have to keep trying, James, because I still can't hear you. In any case, here's what you have to do, twerpette: go rescue Pikachu and give it to the twerp. He'll be so overjoyed that he'll fall in love and confess his love to you right there in front of everybody!" She spread her arms out wide, drawing a curious glance from Sawyer, and prompting both James and Serena to shush the woman.

Jessie lowered her voice, but refused to stop talking. "Well, if you're not going to woman up and make the first move, twerpette, then this is your best alternative. I'd recommend you take it, before somebody does it for you."

"And you wonder why nearly all of our plans fail..." muttered James. "Jessie, lay off her," he requested in his normal voice.

A part of Serena wondered if Jessie was actually right and if she saved Pikachu, then she would finally win Ash's affection. "I'm going to decide what to tell him when the time is proper, after our friends have been found. I'm not trying to create a love triangle or anything, I just wanted to know if what Eusine said was true."

"Love triangle? Oh no, twerpette, we won't be dealing with that until we get to part two. You've got much bigger problems to deal with right now," reassured Jessie.

Serena tilted her head in confusion and turned to James for clarification. "She's basically saying to stop worrying about Misty when you have to get Ash to notice you in that way first," clarified the man.

There was no way Serena could possibly do that, not when the girl's decision to leave still lacked a proper motive. "I guess I can try that," she finally said.

Jessie grinned broadly. "Great! Oh, and don't think I've forgotten about our promise, twerpette. Time is running out for you, if you haven't noticed." Some of the dominating malice in her voice began to return, and the familiar chill of Jessie's threat coursed through Serena.

"I... haven't forgotten." _As to if I'm going to do something about it... that's a completely different problem._

It appeared as if Jessie was willing to hatch some other half-baked idea for Serena to go about confessing to Ash, but Clemont at this point noticed the uncertainty that had developed on Serena's face, and he gave Calem control over their route before making his way back to join the three. "Jessie, Sawyer wanted to speak with you and James for a moment," he directed.

James raised an eyebrow and Jessie froze right as she was about to speak, but neither made any sort of complaint and rejoined Sawyer wordlessly. A concerned gaze from Clemont again found itself upon Serena. "You alright? I wasn't sure what they wanted, but it was team rocket, so I estimated that it wasn't positive." He tilted his head upwards a bit, in a sort of pride for his actions.

"I'm perfectly fine, Clemont, but thank you for your concern. I approached them, to be honest. I wanted to know something about Ash's former travel companions." Serena kept her tone even, trying to give Clemont the implication that she worried he would get. She failed.

"I don't think it's a good idea that they have any involvement with that, Serena. We have enough problems already without team rocket making one of them more complicated." An edge of frustration tingled in his voice, but Serena ignored it.

"They know anyways, so it wouldn't hurt to get some info now, especially when they're thinking more about Meowth than trying to steal our pokémon," she pointed out.

Clemont frowned. "That is true, but the same could be said for you and your pokémon. Are you sure this doesn't need to be dealt with sooner, Serena? I don't want it to impede our search."

"Neither do I," said Serena, shaking her head empathetically. "It won't, I promise. How close are we to our Bonnie location?"

Clemont continued to stare at her for a moment longer before turning away. Serena knew he had someone of his own to look out for that stopped him from delving deeper into the issue himself. "We aren't that far away. Maybe another few minutes of walking."

Having the destination be so impending caused Serena to begin to fret a bit. Clemont had mentioned something about them potentially walking into the trap. She found herself unconsciously walking closer Calem and Sawyer, the strongest trainers in the group. Calem continued to follow the map carefully, Sawyer threw her a glance, and Eusine was as ornery as ever. Clemont found himself walking in the front of the group briskly, ignoring his own advice about the potential danger in favor of seeing his sister again. Squishy and Dedenne popped out of his pockets, as if they sensed something that the machine had found from much farther away. Calem stopped moving. "Alright, we should be almost right on top of... wherever it is we're supposed to be. Bonnie location one? Yeah, that works. Bonnie location one is right here!" he declared proudly.

It would be a bit of an understatement to say Serena was underwhelmed. they were still standing in the middle of seemingly endless forest, with nothing but a map to claim otherwise. "I guess we should look around?" she suggested hesitantly.

Clemont looked at her and nodded. The cue inspired everyone to disperse, Sawyer and the team rocket duo immediately getting as far away from Calem as they could. Sylveon was instructed by Serena to help search the area, and she set about looking around trees and in bushes as hard as she could, working in tandem with everyone to find some sort of evidence of Bonnie's presence or passing through the area. Clemont grew visibly more fervent and erratic in his searching, muttering about the accuracy of his machine among other things more obscene. Calem, instead of releasing Sanity as she expected, was staring directly at a tree, at least if he wasn't sleeping standing up. The shades made it impossible to tell. Sawyer, Eusine and the others fell out of sight as she continued to search. Every group of leaves she brushed away and every branch she forced to bend for her ended in another disappointment. The silent tension of the forest, broken by the occasional bird pokémon cry or the snapping of a branch by someone in the group, started to wear on Serena. The rising feeling of fear that Clemont's machine was wrong, that Bonnie actually was gone, refused to submit to her attempts to block the thought out. Sylveon noticed her tensing up. It reached a feeler out tentatively, but Serena shook her head. "We'll cover more ground if we stay separate, Sylveon."

The pokémon hung its head and continued searching. Serena felt a bit guilty for her attitude, but she could apologize after Bonnie was safe. Panic continued to fester and bubble within her. _There's nothing here. It's just forest. If Clemont was wrong, and Bonnie is gone, then it will be my fault. I was the only one that could have stopped her from being taken, and I failed. I'll have failed everyone..._ Hoping against hope that the other location contained something more useful, she was very ready to approach Clemont and request that they find out if Ash and his group had found anything, when Sylveon lifted its head and stared off into the distance. "What's wrong, Sylveon?" Serena asked.

Sylveon suddenly took off, running into the woods without a sound. "Sylveon, wait for me! What is it!?" she called after her pokémon. Whatever had inspired Sylveon to run off, it would have to be important in order to cajole the fairy type to leave Serena's side. The path her pokémon had chosen was completely choked with dense foliage, and Serena found multiple branches scratching and pricking her as she pumped her legs furiously after the renegade pokémon. Finally, she managed to catch up to her only current pokémon as she burst into a small clearing, more specifically a flower field. Sylveon had run into the middle of the clearing, scattering the flowers around it as it made its way to the center of the clearing. Serena followed it cautiously. The Sylveon was jumping up and down in some form of one of the dances that Serena had taught the fairy type, although the backdrop of flowers reminded Serena of how she originally found Sylveon, when it was still an eevee that danced where nobody could see it in the flower fields. "What's gotten into you?" the performer asked her pokémon, although the question was more for herself.

When Sylveon paused and looked at its trainer, it had an elated smile on its face, and it was quivering in nervous delight. Serena placed her hands on her hips and let out a breath. "You had me thinking you found Bonnie, Sylveon. You just smelled these flowers, didn't you?"

Sylveon nodded happily. "Syl!" it chirped, holding out a feeler invitingly.

Serena stared at it for a moment. "You... want me to join you, don't you?" she guessed.

Sylveon nodded and hopped up and down a few more times. Whatever had gotten into the pokémon, it clearly wasn't willing to take no for an answer. Everything in Serena's head told her to reject the offer and get back to searching, but when Serena glanced down at her hand, she saw that it was trembling. She looked back at Sylveon's feeler. The pokémon could sense its trainer's feelings and emotions with those feelers. Every stab of pain and regret that ran through her must have been felt by Sylveon with all the terrible pain that she had experienced the past two days. Sylveon surely was missing its friends as well, and now it was feeling the pain for its trainer as well. The shock of her realization was also detected by Sylveon, and it recoiled a feeler a bit in confused sadness. Immediately Serena felt another wave of guilt rush through her for her thoughts, each one another weapon that Sylveon had accepted and embraced without complaint or question. Now, it wanted to dance for her sake, and Serena was about to reject it again. Determination suddenly welled up within her. Whenever Sylveon was nervous for a performance, Serena had always had it dance around a bit in the waiting room to loosen it up and calm its nerves. _There's a lot of problems I can't fix right now, and a lot of people counting on me that I don't know how to help. I can't even help myself sometimes. This is a pokémon I can help. I can help Sylveon right now._ Serena's hand stopped shaking, and she held it out to meet Sylveon's feeler. "Let's run through our warm up dance, alright, Sylveon?" she suggested.

Sylveon perked up immediately. "Sylveon!" it spoke in elation before taking her hand.

The warm up dance was the first dance Serena had taught Sylveon back when it was an eevee, and it was something she made up in the spur of the moment to try and get Sylveon used to dancing with something other than itself, namely Serena. It involved little more than the two twirling around and moving in between each other in some basic performance patterns, but the dance had been a hit for Sylveon, so she had written it down and kept it as a sort of warm up for when the two were going to practice more complicated dances that involved moves. Muscle memory overtook her and she found herself moving in perfect sync with Sylveon, the two putting on a display for all the flowers in the field. Serena caught her pokémon's eye as they passed each other. Both trainer and pokémon had joy in their eyes. Serena remembered in the moment why she loved performing, and how it created a sort of bond between the performer and her pokémon, one of complete faith and trust in the other's ability to put on the best display possible for the audience. Everything else fell away, and Serena was alone with Sylveon and the flowers, relying on the gentle paw steps of Sylveon to guide the timing and placement of her own feet as the two continued through some sort of perpetual rhythm that only they could hear and bound them together with invisible string. When the dance ended, Serena bent over to catch her breath. She wasn't certain, but she suspected that she and Sylveon had gone on longer than they usually did. Sylveon walked into Serena's line of sight, a bright smile on its face. Serena realized that she was smiling too, wider than she had for the past several days. Finally, she had done something completely right. "I understand, Sylveon. Thank you for finding this place. I should have known better than to think that my emotions affected only me." The rush of the movement still lingered in her tired, still dirty body, and she sat down among the amber flowers. Sylveon was completely forgiving of Serena, and wrapped a feeler around her arm.

 _I can't stop performing. It's not just my dream, it's the dream of my pokémon, too, and it's what makes us a family. I can't leave Ash, either. He put me on the path I walk today, and... without him, I know I wouldn't be helping both of us reach our full potential._ Surprisingly, Serena found herself less fretful about the dilemma than she had been for the past several days. The card in her pocket was so weightless that she had to check to reassure herself that it was there. Sylveon continued to smile at her. It seemed to be trying to say that no matter what happened, it would always be willing to dance with her. The devotion touched her deeply, and the knowledge that she was completely unwilling to give up a life of performing or a life with Ash she didn't even know if she could have refused to put a damper on it. For a moment, she forced herself to be nothing but happy, enjoying time with her pokémon. The reprise came to a close as she reminded herself that she had other people and pokémon to find. As she rose, a voice rang out to her.

"If I'm being honest, that was actually quite mesmerizing."

Serena snapped towards the sound of Eusine's voice. She should have known better than to think that nobody would have followed her. "What are you doing?" she asked, with an edge to her voice that caused even Eusine to show a bit of hesitation. He was intruding on something private between Sylveon and her, and she wasn't going to take any more intrusions from him.

"I was following you in case you found something, and/or so I could bring you back if you happened to run too far. Nobody else saw you go, and it would reflect badly on me if someone in my group disappeared," he explained.

Serena folded her arms. His logic was sound, but Serena knew better than to trust the charlatan with any sort of credibility. "Fine. Let's go back then. We have to find Bonnie," she stated coldly.

Eusine didn't budge. "If it bothered you that I saw you, I apologize. I felt it rude to interrupt your moment, and I couldn't tear my eyes away. You should know that I respect your craft, in spite of you and your friends. Performing is a noble and difficult pursuit, much like contests, although both fail to garner the respect I feel they deserve. Maybe once I catch Suicune I'll get around to doing something about that..." he trailed off.

Serena decided to just let the intrusion go. The man didn't appear ready or willing to hold it over her head, and the benefits of dancing with her pokémon far outweighed the problem of one person seeing it happen. She said nothing to Eusine, instead beckoning to both him and Sylveon to follow her as she made her way back through the dense foliage towards Clemont and the others. When the three arrived, everyone except Calem was standing around Clemont, who was scrutinizing the map. "This doesn't make sense. We definitely travelled to the correct location. There's no mistaking it. Whatever caused the machine to detect the presence of Bonnie, it's here." Dedenne and Squishy chimed in in agreement.

Jessie laughed. "Well, it's that, or another machine failed, inventor twerp," she mocked.

Clemont's free hand made a fist. "If we don't find Bonnie, we definitely won't find Meowth. I wouldn't be scoffing at your only chance to find your partner." There was a defensive fire burning brightly in his eyes.

Serena approached the others. "Are you absolutely sure that there's nothing here, Clemont?"

The frown on Clemont's face deepened. "Unfortunately, yes. That is, unless somebody found something. Did you find something?" he asked, clearly trying to prevent hope from bleeding into his voice.

Serena hated to do it, but she shook her head. Clemont sighed, and looked at the map again. "I suppose it's possible that this location is just a dud, a glitch in the system. Maybe Ash and his group has the real location, and there really is nothing here."

"No," spoke Calem, finally joining reality again.

Everyone turned to him. "He speaks," announced Eusine sarcastically. "Enlighten us, oh great silent one."

Calem ignored him. "Consider this. These trees, they're old, but not that old. The vast majority of the trees in the area are larger than these trees. That tells me that the soil here doesn't run nearly as deep."

Confusion spread across Serena's face, but Clemont understood the implication. "You're saying what we're looking for could be underground. Do you think it's a good idea to dig down?"

"If you have a pokémon that can, sure," answered Calem. "Just be careful. If I'm right, which I believe I am, the ground won't be very stable."

Clemont took the warning to heart and stepped closer to a tree. He released his bunnelby. "Bunnelby, dig straight down and bring back anything strange you find," he instructed.

Bunnelby nodded and used dig straight into the earth. Serena found herself leaning against a tree. Doing so caused her to notice just how low the branches of the trees in this specific area were. She had just assumed that the foliage was thick in this area, but it would make much more sense for the trees to just be smaller and therefore more likely to have lower branches if they didn't have as much growing room. She stared at Calem, who was watching the hole expectantly. He wasn't spacing out, he was perfectly reading the environment in a way that nobody else she knew would have picked up on, not even Clemont. _Shauna really knows how to pick them... She'd probably get a laugh out of this._ After a moment or two, a blue sphere suddenly emerged from the hole, covered in dirt. Everyone close to the hole jumped back a few steps, and everyone else immediately had a poké ball in their hands. Clemont, being the closest, was the first to relax. "Is that... a stuffed azurill doll?" he asked incredulously.

Bunnelby popped its head out of the ground and smiled proudly at the results of its work. Nobody moved towards the doll for a moment. Eusine then sprinted forward and scooped it up, holding the doll tightly, as if it were a lost child. When he removed his face from being buried in the doll, there was a tear in his eye. Serena's mouth could not have dropped open any further. Everyone else reacted similarly. "Eusine... what are you doing?" asked Sawyer finally.

Eusine didn't dare to remove his gaze from the doll. "Do you know how many years it has been since I have seen this doll? I've almost lost count."

"Hold on," interrupted Clemont. "Did you know this toy was buried here?"

Eusine looked up sharply. "As if I would leave something as important as this behind intentionally. It's been in my secret base for who knows how long. I've always wanted to return, but... well, I couldn't." The doll was cradled in one of his arms, a stark contrast to Eusine's otherwise formal demeanor.

"What's a secret base? Why couldn't you go back?" asked Serena.

Eusine rolled his eyes. "They don't have many of them in Kalos, so I suppose it's somewhat excusable. A secret base is a place for trainers to store their belongings and decorate as they please. You need a pokémon that knows secret power to get in. I don't have one. Not anymore." For the first time, Eusine spoke lifelessly, without his annoying flamboyance.

Calem frowned. "Can you take us to the entrance? I get the feeling something else has been poking around your old base if it's the source of the signal."

Eusine scowled. "There's no way. I am the only one who knows about that entrance. It existed solely as my base of operations while I hunted Suicune in this area. There's no way someone else could have been there."

Clemont frowned. "You know that means anything that we find related to Bonnie in there is directly traceable back to you, right?"

"Of course," answered Eusine. "I already told you I can't get in."

"Why didn't you just get another pokémon that knows secret power?" asked James.

Eusine turned away. "I'm not replacing Hypno. You want to know all my damn secrets, then follow me. I'll show you the greatest unpassable wall you've ever seen in your insufferable life." He stormed off into the woods, not waiting for anyone to follow him.

Calem grinned. "I'd always wondered if he cared about anything besides Suicune. Come on, before he scampers off too far."

The trainer led the way for everyone to follow the charlatan. Serena was still a bit foggy on how secret bases worked, but it sounded like Eusine had abandoned his after not having a pokémon that can open it. She wanted to ask him questions and even caught herself feeling curious about Eusine's life, but a reminder of his past actions snapped her back to reality. _On the other hand, he did seem actually interested in my dance with Sylveon earlier._ Barely a minute of walking, not including brief pauses where Eusine had to stop to ascertain his location, led to another small clearing in the forest. It was there that Eusine stood, mouth agape, at the massive hole created in a sort of rock structure jutting out of the ground, revealing a hole leading invitingly down. "No..." spoke Eusine in disbelief. Everyone else gathered around him to gawk at what could only be described as a pile of poorly put together rubble surrounding a hole in the ground.

Peering a bit closer, Serena realized that the hole actually had steps leading down it. The hole itself was big enough for someone to enter it and not hit their head on the ground, but it still surprised Serena that what was apparently such a natural structure had such a sophisticated entrance. The rocks, large and small, that surrounded the entrance did nothing to obstruct the entrance, although they did appear to have once formed such a barrier, as some of the stones had been tossed off to the side. "It would appear that someone else has been here. Not surprising, judging by the apparent size of the original structure," commented Clemont. "I would wager that this leads directly to the area we were just standing over."

Eusine shot up. "Whoever did this is going to pay!" he shouted at nothing before sprinting into the entrance.

Serena threw caution to the wind and ran after him, Sylveon at her side. Eusine could, of course, be lying about the intrusion on his base, but the way he reacted implied to her that he was just as shocked as she was. She was further surprised by the consistent lighting in the tunnel that the cave led into. Fluorescent lights flickered on as Eusine passed them, illuminating the rather short tunnel that led to what Serena assumed was the main bulk of the secret base. She glanced back and realized that she and Eusine had either run far ahead of the others or they hadn't immediately followed her. The possibility of a trap rang again in her mind, but she pressed forward. When she entered the main cave room, she gasped at how many toys stared back at her. Small plush versions of multiple pokémon lined the entire wall of one side of the cave. A small hole above an empty space on the way indicated where Bunnelby had been. A bed and a bookcase made up the furniture on the other side of the room. directly in front of her, lining the north wall, was a desk with a laptop and a green flag. Eusine sat on his knees in the center of the room. When he heard Serena approach he turned. "You... this is her bag, isn't it?" he asked, holding up Bonnie's bag.

Serena's eyes widened and she nodded, starting forward. Eusine handed it to her without complaint. "Everything is exactly how he left it. Somebody broke in here, left the bag, and then left without so much as taking a book. How did they even get in the door?" he asked aloud.

The memory of Serena's sylveon being taken out in one blow by the body guard's scizor surfaced in her head. She opened up Bonnie's bag and searched it, but it was empty. She wasn't actually sure what Bonnie stored in that thing besides her pokémon. "Eusine... how long have you had this place?" she asked.

"It isn't mine," snapped Eusine, before he seemed to catch himself. "It was supposed to be mine. Before that it belonged to my father. He had hunted for Suicune long before I ever did. When I was old enough, he used to take me up here, since he knew about the Suicune Festival as well, and I would play with him and his Hypno in his spare time between searching." He smiled at the thought.

Serena tilted her head. "So what happened?" she asked.

Eusine turned away. "Life happened. I lost him and Hypno before he could officially give the place to me. After that, I never wanted to come back here, so I let my ability to enter this place die with them." Tears had begun to form upon his face again. "I have to find the criminal who attacked you. This isn't about Suicune anymore. He or she is spitting on the honor of my father and trying to incriminate me. He made it personal." he spoke with the most enraged calm Serena had ever seen, swiveling around to face Serena.

"I... I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," interrupted Eusine. "I deserve your anger. I earned that. Do not dishonor me with pity. We are not friends because of this, performer. I will find whoever did this, but I will still catch Suicune. Both outcomes are guaranteed."

The fire in his eyes almost reminded Serena of Ash. She still felt bad for the man, but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder why someone would go to the trouble of placing the bag in such an inconvenient hiding spot if they were going to make it obvious that Eusine didn't do it. Everyone else finally joined Serena and Eusine in the room, prompting Eusine to rise and move briskly over to Serena. "We're even now. One secret for a secret dance," he whispered in her ear before pacing over to the laptop and trying to activate it, with little success. Serena passed Bonnie's bag to Clemont, who immediately snatched it with the same fervor that Eusine had snatched the azurill doll. "So the bag did throw the tracker off..." he muttered.

Team rocket immediately started to mess with the bed, prompting Eusine to yell at them, while Calem scanned the room. "We should investigate a bit. Maybe whoever left Bonnie's bag here left something else."

Serena and Calem made their way to the bookcase while Clemont walked over to the desk to help Eusine with the laptop. Team rocket continued to mess with the bed, having a gay old time with themselves. Pulling out books from the shelves, Serena recognized a few of the books that were identical to the ones in the manor regarding mythical pokémon, although more books focused more specifically on Suicune and Suicune mythology. She put back the seventh book and was about to give up and leave Calem to browse the books himself when a particularly thin book caught her eye. She withdrew it to reveal what appeared to be a pamphlet describing Cinder Town and the Suicune Festival. Upon opening the informal booklet, something slipped out and onto the dirt ground. She returned the pamphlet and picked it up. Instantly she recognized the image of herself, Ash, and the others as they stood in front of the monument in Geosenge town. The only difference was that Bonnie's face had been crossed out. her heart caught in her throat. She flipped the picture over.

 _Last Chance_

The words were written in bold red letters. She gasped, prompting everyone to turn to her. "What?" asked Clemont frantically.

Serena held up the picture for everyone to see before she turned it around to show the words written on it, unable to form words to describe it. A few gasps were let out. Clemont was enraged. "We need to get to the other site. Now. This is a distraction. I don't know why anyone would go to the effort for such a distraction, but-" As he spoke, the entire cavern rumbled, and the automatic lights shut off. Serena screamed and Calem placed a hand on her shoulder. "Get down," he commanded. Several other people were yelling over Calem shouting for everyone to get down or take cover. Serena had no idea what was happening.

After a very long moment, the rumbling ceased. In the silence, an orange light finally shone, illuminating the room again. Gourgeist had been released by Jessie. "You twerps alive?" she called out.

"Keep your voice down!" hissed Calem. "We don't know what could cause this entire place to destabilize."

"I'm alright," called out Serena as loud as she was willing to.

James, Clemont, and Eusine voiced their safety in turn. There was a pause. "Sawyer?" Clemont finally asked the room.

"Oh, he stayed outside. Something about PTSD with enclosed spaces," spoke James.

The implication of the statement sank in for everyone. Then a mad sprint for the entrance began, with Jessie and her pokémon forced to lead so nobody ran directly into a wall. Jessie had to stop everyone from doing just that as they rounded a bend to see their way out blocked by a pile of fallen rocks. "Well, that would be our problem," spoke Calem with a bit of humor.

"Hey! Are you guys alright back there? Answer me!" came a faint voice from behind the rubble.

A sigh of relief escaped Serena's mouth as she recognized Sawyer's voice. At least he hadn't used the chance to run off.

"Did you do this, you awful person!?" yelled Eusine from somewhere in the back of the line.

Serena pictured Sawyer balking. "Seriously? of course not! What can I do to get you all out?" came the small reply.

Calem stepped to the front of the group, next to Jessie. "Listen to me very carefully, Sawyer. I want you to run back to the police station. The investigation isn't currently happening, so they can't arrest you. Tell them what happened here and try to get them to investigate on the grounds that civilans were endangered. If the second point leads to the culprit, we're going to need the police. We can get out of here ourselves. Can you do that?" he asked as loudly as he could while still sounding calm.

There was a pause from the other side. "Yeah, I can do that. Are you sure you can get everyone out?"

"Yes," answered Calem. "One more thing. Clemont, let me borrow Bunnelby for a second," he requested.

Clemont acquiesced without complaint. "Thanks. I'm sending something over for you with Bunnelby, Sawyer."

"Why are you telling him to leave?!" burst out James, causing Jessie and Gourgeist to turn away from the rubble and Calem. "We need all the help we can get right now!"

Calem ignored them and placed what Serena could barely make out as a book in Bunnelby's paws. "Take this to the other side of the rubble," he instructed.

Bunnelby did so and returned rather quickly, implying that the barrier separating wasn't actually all that large. There was another pause on the other side. "Why?" came the barely audible response to the book.

"Get out of here before I get out of here and tell you," responded Calem, almost jokingly.

The other side fell silent. Serena realized she was the only one still paying attention to James, the others having shifted their attention to James' argument. "What was that?" Serena asked.

Calem turned to her. He had moved his sunglasses off of his face, and his eyes reflected Gourgeist's light in the darkness. "Honestly?" he asked. "I gave him his life back."

Serena tilted her head but realized that Calem couldn't see her movement. She wanted to ask him what in the world he was talking about, but James finally pulled her attention away as well. "Can any of you explain to me how we're going to get out of here? I'm open to anything, really." His tone was cynical and sarcastic.

Calem stood up. Alright, give me a moment and I'll fix this. I need all of you to take a few steps back. Jessie, keep that light on me."

Everyone did as instructed. It always baffled Serena how people like Calem and Ash managed to control such large groups of people with charisma alone. No, that wasn't quite right. Calem had a sort of aura of quiet authority to him, similar to AZ. In any case, he withdrew another poké ball and threw it on the ground in front of him. Out from the bright light burst forth a large garchomp, taking up nearly the entirety of the underground hallway it stood in. "Sand, we need a way around or through the rubble, whatever is safer. Can you manage that?"

Sand nodded quickly and buried underground, causing the whole hallway to rumble. "And don't get us buried!" he called after his pokémon.

Jessie frowned. "Can we trust that thing not to get us killed?" she asked suspiciously.

Calem grinned, barely visible in the light. "You may not believe me, but this happens more often to me than not when I go spelunking. Sand has dug me out of more than a few tight spots, it just needs some time to detect and create a safe path," he reassured.

Clemont raised an eyebrow. "You go digging? What are you looking for?" he inquired.

Calem shrugged. "Adventure, mostly. You asked about the max revive from a few days ago, there's your answer. When I find a cave, I can't help but leave my mark on it," he admitted.

Clemont nodded, satisfied. Serena realized they might be stuck in the dark hallway for a while. She took Sylveon's feeler for comfort. Team rocket began to discuss something quietly. "As soon as we get out, we're going after the others," declared Clemont. "The machine worked, which means Bonnie has to be at their location."

"I agree. We have little time to waste, especially if Sunshine and the others are in danger," spoke Calem.

Eusine glowered at the wall in front of him, eyes alight with determination. "I don't know who they are, but they will pay for what they've done to my father's base. I agree with this plan."

Serena realized that this was the first time all of them had a legitimate reason to be pursuing the criminal that wasn't part of some other more important plan or friendship. The secret base had done more than force them to stand closer together physically. Jessie and James finished their pow wow and stepped forward. "If that's how you all feel, then I believe it's time we played our trump card," announced Jessie.

"That blazekin won't stand a chance against our machine," agreed James.

Serena was tempted to laugh, but she didn't want to mess up her one chance for team rocket to use one of their crazy robots to help her instead of harm her. There were a few more words exchanged about how everyone planned to make their way to Ash's group, but it was clear that everyone was now very ready to get out of the cave. Fortunately, Sand eventually resurfaced, waving its arms proudly. "Chomp!" it announced.

Calem took the lead, returning his pokémon. "Thank you, Sand. Alright, everyone, stay close to me. Sand likes to make its tunnels a bit erratically sometimes."

Calem wasn't kidding. The 'safe' path Sand had found twisted in insane ways and was rarely completely straight for more than a few meters. at the least, the passage had been crudely cut to allow for a person to easily walk through. Per Calem's instruction, they didn't touch the walls or ceiling, although Serena could see the vicious results of Sand's attack on them, chunks of dirt and gravel from the new walls strewn all about the ground. Several minutes of walking later, the group of five saw daylight again. Team rocket immediately forced their way to the front and ran out, yelling something about preparation. Eusine exited next and cast a forlorn glance at the new hole that had sprouted next to the original. Calem came out and stood next to him in respectful silence. Serena and Clemont exchanged a glance. There was no more guesswork to do and they knew exactly where to go. It was time for the one who had tortured them for the past several days to face justice. "Ready?" asked Clemont.

"Ready," responded Serena.

The two took a few steps towards their intended destination before Talonflame suddenly swooped in from the north, circling around them frantically. The urgency only meant one thing to Serena: Ash needed help.


	11. Chapter 11: Everyone Fights a Blazekin

The powerful fire and flying type pokémon swooped low to the ground, circling around everyone in the clearing before coming to rest in front of Serena and Clemont. It flapped its wings methodically and anxiously, a sense of urgent purpose preventing it from completely resting on the ground. Serena bent over slightly to bring herself to Talonflame's level. "What is it, Talonflame? Is Ash alright?" It was surprising even to her that she was speaking with such tranquility in her voice. She suspected that the sense of direction and progress had eased her nerves, however temporary the effects may be.

"Talonflame talon talon!" squawked the bird before taking off again. It circled the group several times while rising in height before it took off in the direction it had came in, moving more slowly and clearly expecting its companions to follow.

Serena and Clemont stared up at Ash's pokémon as it slowly left them. Everyone else, having also noticed the visitor, had joined up with the scientist and the performer. "Do we follow it?" asked Calem, looking with curiosity at the flier.

Clemont immediately nodded. "If Ash sent Talonflame to find us, he must have found something, as we suspected. If we're lucky, he was smart enough not to alert our enemy to our knowledge of their-" He broke off as a large shadow fell over the defaced clearing.

Everyone looked up in awe at the strange contraption that rose into the air behind them. The sheen of blue metal from the sunlight helped to identify the outline of a massive mechanical replica of an articuno. Serena's mouth fell open. Team Rocket had made some pokémon shaped mechs in the past, but the sleek design pf this one was indicative of the extra care put into it. From a distance, it would have even fooled Serena for the definite article had she not read that a real articuno was much smaller and the wind draft from the creation taking off wasn't so obnoxiously noticeable. The crown of the faux pokémon's head popped open and revealed team rocket at the controls, the seat in the middle noticeably empty. "You're going down, you stupid twerpy blazekin! Try to keep up, twerps!" yelled Jessie from the cockpit.

The crown slammed shut and the Articuno machine took off noisily after Talonflame. "-location," finished Clemont, sighing dejectedly. "Never mind."

Eusine, for once, didn't seem to find the misfortune of those around him funny. "It would seem that your question has been answered, Calem," he pointed out. The man then swept his cape behind him before sprinting after the now rapidly disappearing birds.

With a shaking of his head, Calem joined the chase next, followed by Clemont and Serena. Once they entered the forest again, it became readily apparent that they wouldn't be able to easily follow Talonflame, not with the trees and the articuno blocking out most of the sky in front of them. The four runners found themselves relying more on the noise of team rocket's contraption over anything else to ensure that they were going the right way. As what felt like an eternity of running through identical looking tree after tree passed, Serena struggled to remember exactly how far away Clemont had explained the two Bonnie locations were away from each other. Failing to do that, she turned to her side to just ask the man himself, but found that Clemont was lagging far behind her, almost out of view. Cursing everyone for moving so quickly, Serena was about to slow down to make sure Clemont didn't get left behind, only for Eusine to suddenly appear at her side, panting heavily. "Running... not really... my thing. Don't... lose them! I will watch the inventor." Without waiting for a response, the charlatan slowed his pace even further to give Clemont a running partner.

Serena didn't wait for any further invitation. There wasn't time to question Eusine's magnanimity, not when the others were getting away. She ignored the complaints in her legs as she pushed them forward, sweat beginning to form on her brow. Sylveon, running at Serena's side, matched her with a graceful striding movement. She eventually found herself running alongside Calem, following only the loud whirring of the machine above them as they passed through a particularly dense portion of the forestry. Calem barely acknowledged the girl alongside him for what felt like an hour. It was only when she had to dodge a tree and almost shoved him over in the process that he took the chance to lean over to her and whisper in her ear. "Listen very carefully. Do you trust me?" he asked with surprisingly tranquil urgency.

With a tired body and mind, Serena didn't bother to think it over. "Yeah... of course... why?" she managed to get out in between paces that were slowly becoming more and more taxing on her.

Calem nodded. "Good. Team rocket doesn't. As soon as they get Meowth back, they're going to try to divide us so that they can strike while we're vulnerable. If Meowth and the others are ahead like we believe, that time will come sooner rather than later. They don't like me because I'm trying to keep everyone together. There's no time to pass the message on to any more of the others, but I know I can count on you. Just nod if you understand and agree with me." He pulled back a bit to give Serena space.

Serena considered the actions of team rocket over the last few days. Sure, she expected their betrayal, but after her talks with James, she wasn't entirely sure if they would act in such a way so soon after getting Meowth back. With that thought lurking in her mind, she nodded anyways. _No reason to make Calem upset right before a battle._ Calem broke out into a grin. "Fantastic. Now, let's get your pokémon back and bring these villains to justice."

Finally, after a maddening amount of listening to an airship that looked like a pokémon in order to find the correct path to follow, Serena heard the ship stall. She looked up to see that it had paused in the air, a small distance from where Talonflame was circling. No, that was wrong. Talonflame was turning back towards her and the others. Before she could properly take the time to process what that meant, she found herself colliding with something. She grunted in surprise as the object she had run into fell on top of her. As her vision cleared from the fall, Serena realized it was Ash that had sent her to the ground, for what was now the second time since they got into town. The boy had a flustered expression on his face, and Serena immediately mirrored him when she had the bearings to do so. With extreme care, Ash maneuvered himself off of his friend through several apologies, ending with them both laying on their backs on the ground. Sylveon, having kept up with the pace of the run much better than any of the humans, was immediately at Serena's side. After reassuring the pokémon of her well being, she turned to Ash, who was staring up at the metal articuno from the ground. "I sent Talonflame to tell you we'd found something, but then I saw that machine, and I thought you were in trouble. Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

Serena caught her breath and tried to push how close Ash had just been to her out of her mind to respond. "I'm fine. Clemont and I thought you were in trouble because of Talonflame." She paused for a second. "You said you found something?" she prompted.

As Ash turned to his friend to respond, Calem and Tierno appeared over the two of them. Tierno offered a hand to Serena while Calem helped Ash up. Serena accepted Tierno's help somewhat reluctantly, and immediately turned to face Ash once the two of them stood straight again. In this time, everyone else congregated in the impromptu meeting place. Trevor glanced around. "Where's Sawyer? Is that team rocket up there?"

"We sent him to get the police, and yes, they felt the need to expose our position," explained Clemont. "We have very good reason to believe your location is Bonnie's location. Did you find her?"

Tierno stepped forward. "Hold on. You sent the guy who tried to run away last night on a mission by himself to the last place he would want to go? Are you all crazy?!"

"Don't worry, T-man," spoke Calem. "I took care of it. The police will get here sooner rather than later thanks to Sawyer."

Tierno tilted his head. "But Calem-"

"No buts," interrupted Calem. "Trust me, Sawyer won't ditch us again. We need to be focusing on retrieving Bonnie and the others."

"He's right," agreed Clemont. "What did you find, Ash?"

"We found a small shack thing in a clearing. More importantly, when we had Talonflame circle it to try and see what was inside, one of the thugs who took Bonnie came out and shooed it off. We decided to get help before we tried to fight our way in." explained Ash.

A gleam of hope flashed in Clemont's eyes. "Alright. There's no time to waste. Lead the way!" he ordered.

Ash did just that, turning and signaling to Talonflame, who followed its trainer to give team rocket a target to pursue. Everyone else skipped the formalities and took off after Ash. Tierno was the only one who found himself able to match Ash's pace, everyone else either too tired or unwilling to run faster for lack of knowledge of their intended direction. The result was a strange horizontal line led by two people, with Sylveon running on one side of Serena, and Clemont on her other side, the proximity of Bonnie clearly giving him a second wind. The noise of team rocket's invention had reawakened, although this time Serena was grateful that she could simply follow Ash rather than try to listen to the awfully unnatural noises of the mechanization. The run was much shorter than the first one, and Ash turned after only a few minutes to exclaim that they were almost there. Serena's heart had a fleeting few seconds after the statement to steel itself in preparation both for battle and to reunite with her beloved pokémon before the sky above her exploded in a brilliant display of blazing red fire.

For a moment, the world was on fire. Serena remembered throwing her gaze upwards to see a streak of flames cutting directly through team rocket's machine, causing the contraption to sputter and scream in artificial pain before sinking to the ground in a blue and red fireball directly in front of them. Then the pieces of blown away debris came raining down on them. Sylveon had used protect on her, she remembered that. There was also screaming, and there was also Ash. _Ash._ She realized that Ash had run over to her and had been holding her, protecting her from debris that had stopped falling some seconds ago. Everyone else had found their own bushes, trees, or other friends to protect themselves. Tierno was the only one who stood alone. He stared at Serena. She expected to see anger, rage, even, in his eyes, but only vulnerable hurt greeted her. He turned away before Ash could notice and released Blastoise, having the pokémon put out the fires that the debris had caused. Ash was looking at her, and Serena met his gaze. Instead of concern, there was the burning fire she had come to adore in his eyes. "They aren't getting away with this," he promised to her.

Serena smiled at him, and she could feel his fire washing over her, inspiring her, warming her, giving her the sort of comfort only he had ever been able to provide. "Thank you, Ash," she responded gratefully. "Let's take back what's ours."

Ash nodded solemnly and released Serena, with a bit of reluctance that she noticed, to her own surprise. "Are we all okay?" asked Shauna aloud.

Everyone sounded off their health, as did the pokémon that everyone had released to help them avoid the unanticipated attack, except for Eusine. "Where's Eusine?" called out Calem.

For a moment in which Serena was genuinely concerned, nobody spoke. Then, Eusine appeared in the middle of everyone, Alakazam at his side. "I'm fine, thank you. I don't know if I can speak the same for the criminals. Did anyone else see that blazekin?"

Serena could only remember the streak of red flames, but Tierno nodded. "That was the strongest flare blitz I've ever seen, and I've seen some crazy moves."

"That doesn't matter right now, team rocket must be hurt!" exclaimed Ash before taking off in the direction of the ship's crashing.

Without hesitation, everyone followed the trainer, and they emerged in the same clearing that he had spoken of earlier. The metal articuno had been reduced to blue and grey smoldering metal, the head being the only intact portion of the craft. Other fires were starting in the forest behind the crash site that Tierno immediately set Blastoise upon. On the other side of the clearing, the small house structure Ash had spoken of stood, although this time a blazekin stood proudly in front of it, watching the burning steel with mild interest. As the entire group flooded into the clearing, another explosion sounded from what was left of the articuno, and Jessie and James came flying out of the machine. The pair screamed before landing at the feet of Ash and Serena, covered in soot but otherwise miraculously unharmed. Tierno muttered something about fire before ordering Blastoise to redouble its fire fighting efforts. Team rocket stood and shook off the dust, grinning sheepishly. In response to the second explosion, the door to the small house was opened just enough for the guard with the injured face to poke his head out to gawk at the mess in front of him. Serena decided to focus on one of the banes of her stay in Cinder Town. "You! Where's Bonnie!" she yelled in the most intimidating voice she had.

Seeing all the angry people in front of him, the guard let out a small eep and turned to the pokémon next to him. "T-take c-c-care of this!" he ordered in the most pathetic voice Serena had ever heard from the man before slamming the metal door to the house closed behind him.

Blazekin sighed and stood up a little straighter, flexing its claws as it prepared for a battle it clearly had little interest in. By this point, Serena's entire group had congregated in the clearing together, facing Blazekin and the shed about ten meters away from them in a close line formation. Tierno walked over to join them as Jessie and James, being the only ones who hadn't released pokémon, let out Seviper, Wobbuffett, and Inkay. "There's nowhere to run," called out Clemont to the blazekin with more confidence than she thought he had. "Just get out of the way and we won't have to hurt you for what you've done."

In response, Blazekin held out a claw threateningly. Nonchalant as it acted, it was going to follow orders. Serena looked around her. Some of the strongest trainers she had ever met were surrounding her. No matter how strong the blazekin was, there was no way it could hold up against all of them, not at once. Ash sighed and exchanged Talonflame for Greninja, which seemed to irritate the Blazekin, but not enough to react. "Let's not hold anything back. We aren't going to play fair with these guys if they're going to kidnap our friends."

Resounding agreement sounded off from everyone. Calem stepped forward, a small smile on his face. "I suppose I could finally show you my Sanity's mega evolution, then, just to teach this pokémon a lesson. I did tease it during the exhibition match, after all."

Sanity teleported in front of the blazekin, having been released to protect Calem and Shauna when team rocket's machine exploded. Calem dug into his pocket and tossed a stone to the pokémon before taking hold of one himself. "I hate to do this, but, well, you threaten Sunshine and her friends." He placed a finger on the stone in his hand, and Sanity began to glow.

As Sanity began to glow in preparation for mega evolution, Blazekin suddenly darted forward, its body engulfed in the same flames that had brought down the articuno machine. The speed of the attack was faster than a quick attack, slamming into Sanity and breaking its concentration, instantly ending the mega evolution. Sanity tumbled around, skidding on the ground painfully until it finally stopped in front of Calem, knocked out cold. Blazekin waved its hand, dissipating the flames surrounding it and allowing everyone who wasn't staring at Calem in shock to see the red sparks dancing around the pokémon's body as it suffered recoil damage. Serena couldn't see Calem's eyes, but the rest of his face revealed nothing but total shock. He fell to his knees in front of his fallen pokémon, speechless. Shauna immediately moved over to him with her ivysaur to comfort the man, while everyone else looked to the attacker with a mixture of anger and fear. Blazekin itself had withdrawn a sitrus berry and was chewing on it casually, apparently having brought it as a safety net that would allow it to recover from using flare blitz. "Yeah, I don't think we need to bother with a one on one battle here," spoke Tierno, stating to obvious.

Serena looked around. Even if Calem wasn't willing to battle anymore, which his prone position over Sanity seemed to suggest, the sheer number of pokémon on her side should be comparatively overwhelming. Clemont pushed his glasses up his face. "It appears to be utilizing a hit and run strategy. I believe that it wants to avoid a drawn out battle, so we'll give it just that, attacking in groups. We should only need a couple of solid hits..." he broke off and allowed the implications to set in.

All things considered, Serena understood how difficult it would be for everyone to maintain control of their pokémon if they all attacked at once for more than a move or two, let alone at a target that fought back. Sylveon stepped forward confidently, in front of Serena. The performer's gaze swept around her as she took in all the pokémon doing the same for their respective trainers. The message of determination was clear. Blazekin finished its snack and glared with just as much aggression as it faced at its foes. Even though the odds were currently one blazekin to the ten pokémon team of Ash's greninja, Serena's sylveon, Clemont's luxray, James' inkay, Jessie's seviper and wobbuffett, Tierno's blastoise, Shauna's ivysaur, Trevor's charizard, and Eusine's alakazam, the pokémon wasn't intimidated. If anything, it was intimidating Serena with how calmly it was facing its situation. "So, if you intend to draw it out in this manner, then who has the honor?" questioned Eusine, with irritation to mask his nerves.

Clemont frowned at the people around him from his position near the edge of the quasi semicircle they had loosely formed to partially surround Blazekin and the small house it guarded. The steaming pile of metal had been effectively reduced to a pile of twisted regular metal thanks to Blastoise, leaving the moment without noise. "I suppose," Clemont began carefully, "that depends on what Blazekin does first."

With that, Blazekin's searching gaze froze and locked onto Shauna, who was standing near Serena. "Oh Arceus," she muttered. "Ivysaur, vine whip!"

It wasn't as if Serena didn't have faith in her friend's abilities, she just didn't have any faith in her friend's ability to battle at a type disadvantage against a much more experienced battler. Shauna, though she didn't say it, was indicating that she understood the same facts Serena garnered from the skirmish Blazekin had initiated. Nevertheless, two green vines shot out from Ivysaur's back and shot towards their foe. Blazekin refused to react as the impending move surged towards it. Only when the vines drew back to slam themselves across their target once they finished their approach did Blazekin react, reaching out very quickly with one clawed hand and seizing one of the vines, gripping it firmly between its claws. The other vine reacted immediately, twisting to wrap itself around the wrist of the offending arm. For an instant, Serena was hopeful that Ivysaur would be able to free itself, only for said hope to burn away along with the vine as Blazekin ignited its wrist. She turned to Sylveon, ready to call out a command to instruct it to help, only for greninja to hold out a webbed hand to stop Sylveon from advancing. She turned to Ash in confusion, and found a pained expression on his face. "I want to help too, Serena, but if we attack, then Blazekin will just use Ivysaur to block it," he explained with frustration.

To prove his point, Blazekin yanked on the intact vine, causing Ivysaur to cry out in pain, already suffering from one burned vine. The grass type was pulled into the air and towards Blazekin at a rapid speed, only to be halted abruptly as Blazekin planted a blaze kick directly into its exposed stomach. The painful super effective attack sent Ivysaur flying in the opposite direction, only for it to stop mid-flight again as Blazekin gave the vine it still held another yank. This time, the vine complained, clearly reaching the limits of its maximum tension force, but, to Serena's chagrin, it refused to break. The whiplash from the motion stunned the nearly unconscious ivysaur even further as Blazekin's makeshift ping pong ball came flying back towards it. "Ivysaur!" yelled Shauna in distress as Blazekin planted another blaze kick in the pokémon's vulnerable region, sending the now flaming grass type back into the air towards the group.

Mercifully, the vine in Blazekin's hand was released on this flight, and Ivysaur was allowed to sail away uncontrollably. The grass type crashed into a tree on the edge of the clearing and slumped into a pathetic heap at its base. Serena tore her gaze away, as did everyone but Shauna. One didn't need to look to know that Ivysaur was done battling. Shauna fully turned, tears in her eyes, and she ran for her brutally beaten pokémon, leaving an uncomfortable gap between Serena and Clemont where she had stood. Jessie was the least affected by the ruthless attack, and she scoffed. "You think you're tough, huh? Come on, James, let's show this fire freak what team rocket toughness is!"

Serena couldn't help but wonder how Jessie could truly believe in her words while the broken machine ruined by her very foe was sitting on one edge of the clearing, but the statement was enough for James and all of their pokémon to sound off their agreement. James even managed a smile. "If today's the day, Inkay, then I say use psybeam!" he commanded.

The battle resumed as Inkay fired a psybeam at Blazekin. With no wasted movement, the pokémon evaded the attack and swiveled a bit to face its three new challengers. Eusine swept out his cape dramatically. "Join Inkay, Alakazam! Add your psybeam to this next attack!"

With a nod of acknowledgement to his ally, James repeated his previous command, and the two attacks shot out at different angles towards Blazekin. The pokémon elected to jump in the air to dodge, putting in a bit more effort than before. Unfortunately, Blazekin's positioning between Eusine and team rocket caused Alakazam's psybeam, which Alakazam hadn't bothered to aim away from the pokémon it was cooperating with, to continue directly towards team rocket. "Gah! Mirror coat, Wobbuffett!" ordered Jessie in a panic.

"Wobb!" exclaimed the pokémon as it waddled forward to protect its trainer, allowing the runaway psybeam to hit its body and rebound towards its sender.

Eusine frowned. "My apologies. Dodge, Alakazam."

Alakazam disappeared from the battlefield before reappearing a meter or two out of range of its own attack. Eusine sighed in relief, only to gasp in horror as Blazekin, having jumped much higher than anyone had bothered paying attention to because of Eusine's attack, finally landed, crashing down on top of Alakazam and sending it into a new small crater in the ground. As Eusine yelled for his partner to get out of the hole, Blazekin raised a claw and brought it down at ludicrous speed in a slash attack across its prone foe. The noise from the impact was sickening, and Blazekin didn't even bother with a follow up attack as it had with Ivysaur. Instead, it moved off of Alakazam and returned to facing team rocket. Eusine scrambled over to his pokémon and heaved a sigh of relief when he found that it was only knocked out. "It seems to not appreciate when people jump into a fight randomly," commented Clemont detachedly.

Serena was baffled by Clemont's ability to maintain his cool given the situation, but the Blazekin was starting to scare her as much as it had scared Bonnie. The pokémon that had taken everything from her was far beyond the level of any other blazekin she had encountered, maybe even blazekin man's blazekin. Ash was thinking similarly. "It was able to read Eusine's attack as not properly aimed and take advantage of that at the same time..." he mused.

Another pang of worry struck Serena as she considered their thinning numbers. Shauna and Calem were still knelt over their pokémon, while Eusine alternated between doing the same and glaring daggers at team rocket, ignoring the half-hearted apology from Jessie. "Maybe wobbuffett wasn't my best choice," she exclaimed aloud to nobody in particular. She pulled out Wobbuffett's poké ball and returned the blue pokémon. When she swapped the poké ball in her hand for that of Gourgeist's, however, Blazekin again put its incredible reaction time on display. The fire and fighting type sprinted forward and grabbed Jessie's hand before she could open the poké ball and shook its head ominously. Jessie reacted incredibly well to the sudden interruption. "Let go of me you stupid dumb pokémon! Do I look like a pokémon to you!? I will destroy you for this! Seviper, attack it!"

As Jessie continued to bellow loudly, Seviper followed its trainer's orders to try and free her. Blazekin was utterly disinterested in the attempt, however, and it slugged the snake without even turning. Nobody moved for a few seconds. Serena noticed that even those with fallen pokémon were watching, the lack of battle noises drawing their attention. Lust as it appeared that nobody was ever going to move again, Blazekin was comically pounded in the face with a psybeam. When the attack stopped, James and Inkay were defiantly standing right next to Jessie. "Let her go," demanded James. "Settle this honorably, in a pokémon on pokémon battle."

Blazekin didn't appear to react at first, but everyone eventually noticed the flames starting to ignite all over Blazekin's body. A look of fear barely had time to appear on the faces of Jessie and James before the now familiar blazing fire of Blazekin's flare blitz engulfed it and team rocket in a brilliant red light. A full second passed before the flare blitz exploded, sending team rocket and all their pokémon flying straight up into the air. "Team rocket's blasting off without meowth!" screamed the duo as they disappeared into the sky.

The flames on the ground dissipated to reveal Blazekin standing straight up, not allowing the sparks dancing around its body to bother it. Clearly the attack hadn't taken as much out of it as the one used on team rocket's machine or Calem's Sanity. "Everyone," called out Clemont cautiously. "Don't release any new pokémon for now. Just to be safe."

Having established that Blazekin was willing to do whatever it took to win, Serena noticed that Ash had shifted a bit to stand more defensively in front of Serena, as had Greninja for Sylveon. They were down to half of their original army, but at least the majority of them had some sort of type advantage to speak of. Trevor finally stepped forward. "I think I've seen enough of this. Clemont, you and I are next," he decided for everyone. "You remember the strategy."

Charizard growled its approval, and nobody else objected to the two strategists who had planned to encounter a Blazekin moving next. Clemont stepped forward and nodded, his luxray growling. "Swift," he ordered calmly and coldly.

Luxray cried out its name and launched a multitude of stars at the Blazekin. The pokémon actually closed its eyes, causing Serena to assume that it was just going to take the attack, only for the pokémon to begin dancing through the sea of stars, using slash to destroy the stars it couldn't dodge without moving. When the assault ceased, Blazekin hadn't taken any additional damage, and Trevor wore a smirk on his face that was directly related to his charizard having left the battlefield. Blazekin looked up, as did Serena, to watch Charizard circling high above the battle, waiting for the command to return to strike its opponent. "Electric terrain," commanded Clemont.

With another exclamation from Luxray, the electric terrain that Serena remembered from Clemont's gym battle with Ash appeared throughout the entire clearing, spreading even to under her feet. An electric tingle coursed through her body, and she felt an iota of the power that the move caused to course through electric type moves. Blazekin flitted its gaze downward to observe the same phenomenon, and in that moment Trevor ordered his strike. Charizard came down with a much faster speed than was the precedent for its bulk, but it still failed to move fast enough to prevent Blazekin from acting accordingly. Drawing an arm back, Blazekin made a fist and focused before jumping and launching what appeared to be a sky uppercut directly at the diving charizard. The move connected with Charizard's jaw and sent it careening off course in a small tailspin, although the pokémon managed to regain its balance and land without collapsing to the ground. Serena was impressed by Charizard's ability to take a hit at that speed, only for her enthusiasm to damper as Charizard started to rub its jaw in pain. Serena, like Blazekin, was distracted by its previous attack and was completely caught off guard when Luxray slammed into Blazekin as it returned to the ground, engulfed in a wild charge attack. Blazekin, for the first time in the fight, was pushed backwards as it struggled to cope with the full power move it hadn't anticipated and was being boosted by the electric terrain. Finally, the attack ended, and Luxray leaped backwards before Blazekin could recover enough to retaliate. "That was for Bonnie," spoke Clemont with more contempt than Serena had ever heard from the inventor.

Blazekin shook itself, still standing on its feet but shocked in more ways than one that Clemont had managed to tag it. "Blazekin!" The roar reverberated throughout the clearing.

Trevor and Clemont exchanged a nod. They didn't bother with theatrics this time, and Charizard took off into the air once again without its trainer's command. "Thunder fang," called Clemont.

There was no act by Blazekin that suggested it was even trying to dodge the attack. Thunder fang came down hard on Blazekin's arm, and while it grimaced from the impact, it didn't budge as the yellow sparks spread out over its body. Serena didn't have to look up to know that Trevor had ordered Charizard to make its move. Abandoning traditional voice commands had been a wise decision. Blazekin, however, knew what was coming as well, and, with its free arm, it snatched Luxray by the scruff of its neck. With a swift tug, the pokémon was detached from its prey like it was a tiny shinx rather than the final evolved form. Gripping tightly, Blazekin leaped into the air once again, this time wielding Luxray in one clawed hand. With noticeably more effort, it hoisted up the electric type above its head as it used sky uppercut once again. Charizard realized that it was about to crash into its ally and struggled to alter its course, but Blazekin wasn't about to let it off so easily. The three pokémon collided in midair, and Charizard again took an unpleasant course towards the ground while Luxray was released just after the collision, sending it in a sort of arc through the air before it crashed on the ground near Clemont. Charizard again managed to land on its feet, but with less grace than it had used previously, a feat Serena hadn't thought possible. Blazekin hadn't come out of the exchange cleanly either, and it was gripping the hand it had held Luxray in like it was mad at the hand for injuring itself during such a difficult maneuver. After some seconds during which Serena wondered if any of the fighters actually had the strength to continue fighting, Blazekin allowed itself to drop to one knee. "Blaze..." it muttered, eyes closed.

Serena felt a smile of relief forming. "Did... we get it?" she asked hesitantly.

Nobody else still fighting fit seemed to share her optimism, and she soon saw why. "Blaze blaze..." continued Blazekin as it opened its eyes and stood up. "Blaze blaze blaze blaze blaze blaze BLAZE BLAZE BLAZE!" The cry was paired with Blazekin darting forward, wrists spewing out flames indiscriminately, and planting a blaze kick directly into Luxray's side before Clemont was prepared to order a dodge. The kick sent Luxray careening into Charizard for a second time, but Blazekin didn't let the attack stop there. As soon as the two pokémon collided, it launched into a flurry of blaze kick attacks that completely reassured anyone watching that the two suffering pokémon wouldn't be battling anymore. Serena waited in patient agony for Blazekin to stop, to restrain itself and allow the pokémon to faint as it had before, but the assault continued over the cries of Luxray and Charizard as they tried unsuccessfully to defend themselves. The moves only ended when two red lights shot out from Trevor and Clemont's poké balls as they recalled their pokémon. Blazekin's eyes widened in indignant surprise as its prey was snatched from it, and it turned to glare daggers at the offending trainers. Clemont matched the stare while Trevor took a picture. "If you're gonna attack me, then you better do it quick, because now that blaze has activated, you can't afford to risk taking much more damage from anyone who would take advantage of that move," threatened Clemont.

Blazekin stared at the speaker with barely controlled rage, and for a moment Serena suspected that the pokémon was going to follow through and attempt to attack Clemont anyways, but it finally turned away to face the final three battlers fully. Despite being enraged, it could still listen to reason. Of all things, Tierno had developed a stupid grin on his face. "I guess it's time we cleaned this up. No fire type is going to burn through my Blastoise's moves!" he boasted as both he and Blastoise began to perform their unique battle dance.

Blazekin watched the strange display in confusion for a moment while the electric terrain faded. Then, as Tierno opened his mouth to order an attack, the fire type immediately maneuvered behind Blastoise and kicked it in the shell, launching it directly upwards. Without hesitation, Blazekin followed its query, launching a sky uppercut with its uninjured hand into its jaw, putting the pokémon in a spinning free fall. Blazekin followed the pokémon, slashing at its exposed stomach as it fell until it did meet the ground again with a crash that rattled the ground and caused any bird pokémon that hadn't already scattered from Blazekin's yelling to do so immediately. However, Blazekin didn't continue to whale on the now unmoving Blastoise, and instead snapped its head around to lock onto Sylveon. In that moment the same fear that must have coursed through Shauna manifested itself in Serena. She fumbled to retrieve her wits and order Sylveon to used protect as Blazekin darted forward, but the attacker was upon her far too quickly. Steeling herself for what seemed like the inevitability of defeat, Serena was shocked when Blazekin's blaze kick was stopped in midair by Greninja's cut, much in the way it had prevented Sceptile from attacking yesterday. Ash was mirroring the motion, and the fire in his eyes burned brighter than Serena had ever seen it. He smiled for just an instant at Serena before refocusing on Blazekin. "You hurt my friends, stole mine and their pokémon, kidnapped Bonnie, and I'm not going to let you get away with it. Let's show it how to battle, Greninja." As he spoke, a column of water enveloped Greninja as it cried out in passionate anger.

When the water settled, Greninja had adopted the same form it had just after Serena had left the battle between Ash and Tierno. Seeing it for the first time since arriving in Cinder Town, Serena gawked a bit. Blazekin had jumped back a bit to avoid being caught in the water spout on land, and its eyes narrowed as it took in the new form of Greninja. The two warriors stared each other down, everything else falling away for them. Serena decided to capitalize on that before the battle between the two could truly begin. "Swift, Sylveon!" she commanded with all the indignation she felt for the treatment of her friends and their pokémon.

Sylveon summoned the stars that Luxray had used earlier in the battle and launched them at its foe. The attack connected with Blazekin, but it didn't react. The attack almost looked like it was showering stars on the pokémon rather than pounding them into it. When the attack ended, Blazekin surged forward towards Greninja. Unlike everyone else, Greninja reacted appropriately, summoning a cut in both hands per Ash's instantaneous command and blocking the incoming kicks and punches while throwing some of its own. The flurry of martial arts mixed with blades, aerial aces, blaze kicks, sky uppercuts, and even a few slashes, was far too fast for anyone but Blazekin, Greninja, and Ash, who was nearly mirroring Greninja's movements with all the speed of a human, to follow. While the two didn't move at the same speed, an observer who was able to tell what Greninja was doing would be able to see that Ash was only mirroring attacks at the openings he saw that Blazekin left in its nearly imperceptible attacks. Despite this, neither side was able to gain ground on the other. Serena looked on, somewhat helplessly. _It's too risky to try to fire an attack at them... they're too close together._ She looked around, and was startled when she noticed that Tierno wasn't on the ground with his pokémon.

Instead, Blastoise had risen to its feet while Blazekin was distracted and was apparently waiting for the same opportunity that Sylveon was. Tierno noticed that Serena had seen him and he held a finger to his lips. Serena nodded and renewed her determination. When the time was right, she would get her chance. The fighting continued, and Blazekin's wrists continued to exude intense flames while Greninja struck with a force that Serena could feel even from where she was standing. Serena turned to Ash. The warrior was still moving with the same speed that he had started moving with, but Serena could tell that even his stamina was being pushed. She didn't know why he was insisting on moving with his pokémon, but she felt an aching desire to help him. As she watched him, Ash threw a glance to her. There was a sort of raw passion in his eyes, an undirected outflowing of emotion that washed over Serena like a tidal wave. Of all people, she had never expected to see such emotion from Ash, not even during a battle. It was as if someone had ignited the sparkling gleam she had noticed in Ash's battle with Calem, and the resulting explosion had blown open a window to the soul. It was with this beautiful, terrifying look in his eyes that Ash faced his oldest friend. "Attack."

The word reached her, but Serena didn't really grasp the implications of it until long after Ash had returned to shadowing the dangerous dance in front off him. Deciding to consider the true meaning of the order later, Serena listened to her crush. "Swift, Sylveon!" she ordered, hoping that this was what Ash wanted.

"Hydro cannon, Blastoise!" Tierno's command startled those who had assumed that he was out of the battle.

A smirk found itself on Ash's face. "Now, Greninja!"

A punch from Blazekin's injured arm found itself buried in Greninja's stomach, and the pokémon winced in tandem with Ash. Blazekin howled in triumph and raised a claw to slash its opponent down, completely ignoring the attacks hurtling towards the two of them. When it brought the guillotine down, Greninja vanished, and Blaziken came down on empty earth. Blazekin only had time to look up at the team of Ash and a Greninja that had used double team glowering at it before both swift and hydro cannon connected. Suffice to say, Serena felt herself breathe for the first time since the battle started as Blazekin disappeared under a sea of stars and the super effective water attack. When the dust settled, Blazekin was on its stomach on the ground, the flames on its wrists having died down, although the pokémon itself was still conscious. Greninja wasted no time, and leapt forward to hold a cut blade over Blazekin threateningly. "Greninja gren gren," it commanded.

"Don't get up. We don't want to have to knock you out," spoke Ash, possibly translating for the humans.

Edging slightly closer to the downed foe, Serena realized that, while the fire in Blazekin's wrists had died down, the fire burning in its eyes hadn't. Blastoise had begun to dance in happiness over its victory. "Ash, I think-" she managed to start before Blazekin made its move.

Digging its clawed hands into the dirt, Blazekin flicked its hands upwards to launch dirt directly into Greninja's face. Both the pokémon and Ash covered their eyes in pain and anger, the cut attack vanishing. Blazekin leapt to its feet and pivoted on Blastoise. Despite frantic warnings from Tierno, Blastoise wasn't prepared as Blazekin again engulfed itself in fire and drove itself into Blastoise, engulfing it in flames. When the dust cleared, Blastoise was clearly and unequivocally knocked out, while Blazekin was wincing at the after effects of the move. In spite of this, it was already readying another flare blitz, this time directed at the still blinded Greninja. Seeing the build up to the attack, Serena finally found that she had the time to react. "Protect Greninja, Sylveon, hurry!"

The pokémon cried out its name as it sprinted in between the now fully charged Blazekin and the struggling Greninja. For an instant Serena was mortified that Sylveon didn't have the time to pull up the protective green barrier before Blazekin reached the two. Relief coursed through her when the fantastic protect attack manifested between Blazekin and the two pokémon just before the flare blitz from the crazed Blazekin could connect with the target. Sylveon grimaced as the barrier strained to defend itself from Blazekin's onslaught, but it didn't break. Greninja finally managed to restore vision to itself, allowing it and Ash to see that Sylveon had saved them. Flashing a grateful smile to his partner, Ash launched again into his battle stance with his pokémon. "Alright, Greninja. Let's show Blazekin what we think about dirty tricks like that."

Greninja disappeared again and reappeared all over the clearing, enraging Blazekin as it finally stopped attacking the protect barrier. "Join Greninja, Sylveon!" spoke Serena quickly.

Sylveon nodded before it too disappeared, reappearing all over the clearing in the same way that Greninja had. The two double team attacks suddenly made their choice of battlefield seem a lot smaller. Blazekin continued to cry out in its undirected rage, and it began to tear at the doubles, ripping at them and blasting through them with punches and kicks. Ash and Serena were silent, as were all those watching. All Serena could hope for was that Ash had found some sort of weakness that he could exploit before Blazekin finished tearing apart all of the doubles. "You don't have to energy to resist it again, Blazekin. This is your last chance," he warned.

If Blazekin heard anything, it provided no indication and continued to attack. Ash and all the Greninjas sighed while Serena simply waited for the signal Ash was hopefully going to give her. As Blazekin prepared to strike down two doubles at once, it suddenly froze, completely unable to move as yellow sparks suddenly manifested and darted around Blazekin's body, holding it in place. _Now._ Serena started. It had sounded like Ash had said the word, but he clearly hadn't opened his mouth. Nevertheless, she knew that this was what he was waiting for, although how he noticed that Blazekin had become paralyzed by Luxray she didn't know. "Fairy wind, Sylveon! Finish it!" she commanded.

"Water shuriken," added Ash, surprisingly calmly.

The doubles of both pokémon vanished as they revealed themselves to be standing behind Blazekin. Greninja removed the large water shuriken from its back and held it aloft over its head for a brief instant before launching it at the vulnerable Blazekin. Sylveon followed this up with its fairy wind attack, and both moves combined to create a sparkling water effect that felt anything but pretty to Blazekin when it connected. Another dust cloud emerged, allowing Greninja and Sylveon to return to their trainers sides while they waited to see if the fight was over. To everyone's chagrin, Blazekin was still standing when the dust cleared, the yellow electricity still running up and down its body. Ash and Serena immediately tensed up, only to relax again as the yellow sparks released Blazekin from paralysis and allowed it to fall to the ground with an unceremonious thud, unconscious. Greninja and Ash nodded in acknowledgement of the victory while Serena knelt down to congratulate Sylveon. The noise of Greninja reverting to its original form caught her attention, and she looked up to witness the reversion. As she thought to thank Ash for protecting Sylveon during the battle, her crush suddenly swooned, about to collapse. "Ash!" she exclaimed, standing up and practically diving to catch Ash before he could meet the ground.

Greninja took a knee, but it didn't appear to be suffering from quite as much fatigue as Ash. "Ash, are you alright?" she asked worriedly as she prevented the boy from toppling to the ground with her arms, rapidly trying to think of some way to help him recover his senses.

Ash blinked a few times and realized his position. "Serena? Oh, I'm fine. Well, I will be fine. Did we win?" he asked.

Serena looked at him, confused, but she resisted her initial urge to chastise him. "Yeah, we won," she responded warmly.

"You got that right we did!" exclaimed Tierno from his position near a weak but now conscious Blastoise.

Clemont and Trevor, the only people without pokémon on the field to care for, nodded their agreement. "That was close, though," pointed out Trevor.

"Certainly," added Clemont. "If Greninja and Sylveon weren't still standing and we hadn't found some way to release pokémon without Blazekin attacking us, we might have all ended up like team rocket."

Ash realized in that moment that he was being held by Serena, and he blushed a bit. Serena immediately let go when she realized what she was doing to Ash, causing him to tumble forward and nearly fall on his face were it not for Greninja. The two trainers looked at each other, both unwilling to discuss the cause of the event. They might have let the silence continue for an eternity had Calem not started to make his way across the clearing, Spike at his side, towards the small house. His jaw was set in a frown, and while she couldn't see his eyes, Serena could tell that the man was enraged. "I think we owe some body guards a visit," he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear.

The statement inspired everyone to stop what they were doing and draw their attention to their intended target. Even Shauna, who had been taking care of her Ivysaur since its battle, returned her pokémon briefly to participate in the next portion of their Bonnie retrieval plan. The unification of everyone against a singular desire to see justice wrought upon whoever had any relation to the Blazekin they had just defeated was strong enough to have them all following Calem within seconds, those with pokémon that could walk remaining out. Other than Calem himself, nobody else had released a new pokémon, though Clemont, Trevor and Eusine appeared ready to do so at a moments notice. Before anyone could even think to hesitate at the metal door, Calem snapped his fingers, and Spike surged forwards towards the door. Like a football player, Spike slammed into the door, badly denting it and forcing it to come flying off of its hinges. The now useless door fell to the ground as Spike stood proudly over its handiwork. Light flooded into the only surprisingly roomy room of the house, as did everyone else. The two body guards, who were sitting together off in one corner of the room, had frozen in shock at the sight of the angry people who hadn't lost to Blazekin. "Clemont! Serena! Ash!" came a voice from the far side of the room.

Serena had to squint, even with the light from the hole where the door used to be, but it was definitely Bonnie that was standing next to Meowth in a cell that took up roughly half of the room. The entire structure itself eerily resembled the prison section of the police station in town. "Bonnie!" cried Clemont, pushing through everyone to lay eyes upon his sister once again.

One of the body guards looked like he wanted to comment on the situation, but Calem spared him the trouble by having Spike knock them both out with a swift smack to the back of the head. As much as Serena didn't condone violence, she was having a hard time finding fault in the action of knocking out those particular guards, especially as she was more concerned with the person behind bars in front of her. As Clemont frantically tried to find some way to convince the lock to open, Calem had him, Bonnie and Meowth step aside. Spike completed its trifecta of problems to be solved by brute force by smashing open the door to the cell. The siblings rushed towards each other, disregarding everything else around them, and Clemont brought himself down to embrace his sister tightly. "Oh, Bonnie, I was so worried!" exclaimed Clemont, tears welling up in his eyes.

Bonnie was even worse, having already shed a few droplets of water. "Clemont! I knew you and everyone would come for me! I told you, Meowth!" she exclaimed jovially.

The unfettered optimism of the scene warmed Serena's heart and lit up the still dark room. Even Calem and Trevor postponed their self-appointed task of restraining the two criminals to smile with everyone at the reunion. The only thing not smiling in the room was Meowth. "Dat's real heartwarming and all, but where's my buddies? I know dat was my machine dat blew up out dere." It folded its arms in expectant irritation.

Before anyone else could explain what had happened, Eusine piped up. "Your incompetent friends got my Alakazam injured and then proceeded to get launched into oblivion by Blazekin," he accused. "If we're lucky, we'll never see them again."

Meowth's claws immediately unsheathed. Tierno and Ash, both on the same side of preventing further conflict for once, started to move in between the two belligerent arguers, only for the sound of screaming and a loud crash to startle everyone but the oblivious Bonnie and Clemont. Light flooded the back of the small house's only room as a hole appeared where the roof used to be. Everyone who was paying attention looked on in disbelief at the forms of Jessie, James and their pokémon, having apparently been launched straight up by Blazekin rather than off into the distance. Serena didn't know why she was surprised after how many times she had witnessed and even helped dole out similar punishment upon team rocket, but the group appeared to be more singed and annoyed than actually hurt. "Ugh..." grumbled Jessie. "All the trees in the forest and we land on concrete..."

"Guys!" exclaimed Meowth.

The humans of team rocket and their pokémon immediately snapped up to take in the sight of their missing member. The following display made the tears Clemont and Bonnie had shed seem pathetic in comparison. A small puddle formed around the reunited trio and their pokémon as they celebrated their reuniting. "We're a team with a full pokémon load again!" exclaimed James happily.

Tierno and Trevor didn't allow their gazes to linger on the scene, and Eusine openly frowned at the reunion, unwilling to let go of the events during the battle or the fool hardy use of the articuno machine. Personally, Serena thought all three of them were being a bit cruel to show such open distrust of the people who had fought just as hard as she had to meet their goals. Calem's words from their run in the forest rang through her ears as she thought so, and suddenly the reaction made sense. _But is team rocket dividing us, or is our mistrust of them dividing us, Calem?_ Looking at the scene, Serena found it hard to picture the criminals as... criminals.

Serena's musing continued until Clemont pulled out Bonnie's bag and allowed the girl to reunite with Squishy and Dedenne. Through the action, Serena suddenly recalled her need to retrieve her own bag, and she scanned the room quickly. Resting on the lone table on her side of the room next to a lap top and some poké balls that weren't hers was her prize. With more controlled anticipation than the two groups in front of her displayed, Serena crossed the room, Sylveon at her side. The others began to tire of watching the reunion and launched their own explorations of the small prison. The pink bag Serena had grown attached to on her journey lay open in front of her, having eluded her grasp for over a day. She cast a glance behind her. Nobody was paying attention to her, not even Ash, who was glancing around the room restlessly. _Pancham and Braixen won't know what's been going on. If they see this or get released to me crying, they'll get concerned._ That knowledge in mind, she dug into her bag, past the supplies and spare clothes she had missed dearly and finally rested when her hands gripped the poké balls that contained her treasured partners. Glancing around and taking note of the room's limited dimensions, the performer resolved to step outside, through the hole where a door used to stand, past the unconscious Blazekin and into the middle of the clearing. Sylveon followed closely, watching the unmoving pokémon carefully. "Braixen, Pancham," spoke Serena, summoning her other two pokémon.

The first two pokémon Serena obtained on her journey emerged from their poké balls, stretching out and staring curiously at their trainer. The question of why they hadn't been summoned in days was in their eyes, and Braixen in particular seemed to be irritated at its trainer. Serena rubbed the back of her neck with her free hand and tried to find the words to explain what had happened since she last saw them. Before she could, Sylveon leaped forward, embracing both Braixen and Pancham with its feelers and speaking its name ecstatically. Braixen struggled to break free but eventually sighed and allowed Sylveon to hug it. Pancham was smaller and wilier, which allowed it to slip away from the larger pokémon and run to Serena for aid. Serena smiled as she looked at the tiny panda pokémon in front of her, and it glared back at her, demanding an explanation for Sylveon's behavior and its trainer's silence. "I was worried I had actually lost you two, for a moment or two at least," she finally spoke.

Braixen managed to tear away from Sylveon long enough to give Serena a look of confusion, while Pancham merely tilted its head as a single tear landed on its forehead. Sylveon broke off immediately as it noticed the tear and returned to its trainer protectively. Dropping all self-righteousness, Braixen joined the other two pokémon and voiced its concern. Serena shook herself before lowering down to the level of her pokémon. "I'm fine, everyone, really. I'm just glad to have all of you safe and with me again. That Blazekin over there attacked us a few nights ago, and it stole my bag with you two in it, but Ash and the others helped me get you back. I'm so sorry, you two. I'm sorry I couldn't get here any sooner..." She trailed off, and Braixen responded by embracing its trainer.

Pancham pulled Serena's hat off her head and took its place, while Sylveon looked on, now clearly content to have all of its friends together again. Serena reciprocated the affection her pokémon were showing her, secretly overjoyed that they weren't holding any remorse for her. "Pancham pan!" exclaimed the small pokémon jubilantly.

"Braixen brai," added Braixen in an encouraging tone.

The reunited team sat there for what might as well have been years, enjoying each others presence after not having felt it for over a day. Eventually, the three separated and Serena returned her hat to her head. "Right. Now that you two are back and I have my bag, it's time we made whoever owns that Blazekin pay for what he tried to do. They won't get away with trying to steal my friends."

All three of Serena's pokémon voiced their empathetic agreement. Serena turned to return to the small house, only to freeze when she noticed that Blazekin was staring at her. All three of Serena's pokémon jumped in front of her defensively, calling out their names angrily. Blazekin actually chuckled at the bravado, only to break off in a wince and clutch at its side. Serena paused. Blazekin was up, but it was still too injured to battle. She stepped in front of her pokémon and kept walking, until she was only a few meters from where Blazekin fell. It managed to sit up, with considerable effort, and start to prepare a defensive slash attack. Serena stopped walking. "I'm done battling you. I just want to know one thing: why? Why are you doing this, trying to hurt me and my closest friends?" she asked, all of the previous days anguish pouring into her words.

Blazekin was silent for a few seconds. "Blaze... blaze blazekin blaze blaze," it responded.

Pancham and Sylveon didn't react, but something that Blazekin had said apparently resonated with Braixen. "Brai braixen?" it asked the pokémon.

"Blazekin," it responded.

The response lit a fire inside Braixen. "Braixen brai brai braixen braixen braixen!" it exclaimed indignantly, gesturing to itself and Serena.

Blazekin scoffed and nodded towards Serena. "Blazekin blaze," it spoke. "Blazekin blazekin," it added after a thought.

"What's the problem, Braixen?" Serena asked curiously. Any information about her foe would be useful.

Before Braixen could even try to describe what it had said and heard, Ash came storming out of the house, Greninja on one side and a clearly confused Meowth on the other side. Unlike Serena, he made a bee-line for Blazekin. When the pokémon again raised a slashing claw defensively, Ash nodded to Greninja, and the pokémon pinned that arm to the ground. Blazekin sighed but did not retaliate. When Ash was barely out of range of his foe he stopped moving. As everyone approached the fallen pokémon behind him, Ash stared directly into the eyes of the insanely strong fighter. When he finally did speak, the content of his speech sent a chill through Serena's spine. "Where's Pikachu?"


	12. Chapter 12: Détente

"Where is Pikachu?" repeated Ash, the anger and frustration evident in his voice.

The boy's hands clenched into fists as Blazekin refused to say anything. Calem was the only other person who seemed comfortable with the situation, and he had Spike lumber behind Blazekin and Greninja in an effort to prevent the pokémon from running. "Look, buddy," started Calem, pulling off his sunglasses to show Blazekin the honesty in his eyes, "You don't have any reason to lie about this, because if you do, you'll be dealing with several very angry pokémon and trainers, not to mention the police in a few minutes. It's in your best interest to just give up the information my friend is asking about."

For another uncomfortable moment, Blazekin continued its oath of silence. Fortuitously, it sighed and began to speak again. "Blaze... blaze blazekin," it admitted quietly.

Meowth tilted its head as everyone turned to it expectantly. The pokémon looked at everyone, in particular Ash, and sighed. "Blazekin... said it never took a Pikachu," translated the team rocket member.

Ash's head snapped back to Blazekin, but it was Bonnie who responded first. "That's a lie!" she cried out. "You're lying, Blazekin!"

Clemont and Serena exchanged a look. Both of them had realized that having Bonnie of all people participate in the aggression towards this pokémon was probably a terrible idea. He started to gingerly usher Bonnie away from the crowd of their group, much to her chagrin. Serena knelt down and briefly explained to Sylveon its new goal of distracting Bonnie, which it gleefully accepted, bounding off towards the siblings. Serena refocused on Blazekin just in time to watch Chesnaught punch Blazekin in the chest. The pokémon cried out, but it refused to cower or hide behind unconsciousness. Calem waltzed over to Blazekin, getting far too close for comfort in the pokémon's attack range. "Calem, you're getting too close!" warned Shauna worriedly.

"It's fine, Sunshine, I've got this," he reassured her with a wave of his hand without turning.

"That's what you said when you tried to fight with Sanity!" she pointed out irritably.

There was no response from Calem. Instead, the trainer actually leaned closer to Blazekin. "Look, Blazekin. I want to be your friend, here, but it's gonna be really hard for me to do that if you keep telling such obvious lies. Please, for all our sakes, tell the truth or tell a much better lie than that, because I have several people here that know for a fact that you stole Pikachu."

To emphasize his point, Spike loomed over the fire type, clearly ready to strike again on command. Ash looked just as ready to give Greninja a similar command, and Serena couldn't blame him. Blazekin shifted its gaze between the angry trainers before relenting. "Blazekin! Blazekin blaze blazekin blaze!" it exclaimed in a huff.

Once again, Meowth's face fell as it heard the words coming out of Blazekin's mouth. This time the pokémon didn't bother waiting for everyone to turn to it expectantly. "It said that it took Pikachu, but the rat escaped while it was fleeing." Before the information could sink in, Meowth retreated to Jessie and James to prevent the news from affecting it personally.

Ash turned to Blazekin. "Is that right?" he asked the fire and fighting type, to which Blazekin nodded solemnly.

Calem actually grinned. "See? That wasn't so bad now, was it? I didn't think so. Now, Spike, knock it out again."

Spike responded with a grunt and raised an arm to put Blazekin under again, only for Greninja to let go of Blazekin's arm to interrupt the attack. The two tied, and Spike was the first to relent with a grunt of surprise. Calem turned to Ash, irked, as did everyone else. "We shouldn't knock Blazekin out," exclaimed the trainer, some of the compassion Serena adored starting to surface in him again. "Blazekin could still be lying for one thing, and even if it isn't, it's still weak from battle. There's no reason to harm it further."

Greninja nodded in agreement, but everyone else seemed uncertain. "I don't think that's a good idea," spoke Trevor. "If you're worried about Blazekin telling the truth, we can always have officer Jenny interrogate it again, so maybe it's best you let Calem take care of this."

"I fully support any and all violence directed towards that secret base wrecker," added Eusine helpfully.

Tierno was strangely silent, as was team rocket and Shauna. Serena realized that nobody else was going to speak up for Ash, given that Clemont was busying himself with Bonnie. "Ash is right," she stated. "Knocking out Blazekin now means we may have to wait hours before Jenny can wake it up and interrogate it. If what Blazekin said turns out to be true, that's even more time for Pikachu to get lost further, or even be attacked in the woods somewhere between here and town." She paused to take in a breath.

Ash flashed her a grateful smile. "I just don't think attacking our foes for no reason is the answer," he stated simply.

"Why is that morality of yours never a problem with us!?" exclaimed Jessie indignantly.

Ash sighed. "You and I both know I'm the first one to trust you three when you're willing to help us out. I only blast you off when you try to steal Pikachu."

Despite very clearly wanting to argue, Jessie held her tongue. Calem returned his sunglasses to his face. "Well, it would seem we're at an impasse. That's always fun."

"Blazekin blaze," said Blazekin suddenly and urgently.

Meowth, startled into working again, was pushed forward by Jessie to translate again. "Alright, alright, lay off already! Blazekin said you twerps should just let it go free. Dere, ya happy?" The pokémon crossed its arms and walked back to Jessie and James from being shoved.

Several people tilted their heads towards Blazekin in confusion. "Umm, no?" answered Shauna in confusion. "Sorry, but that's the one thing we definitely aren't doing," added Serena.

The clearing nodded in agreement. Blazekin sighed, examined its injured arm for a moment, and then drove a slash in an arc across Greninja and Spike's knees, sending the two to the ground. Blazekin roared and leapt to its feet, refusing to show any of the weakness from battle it must have been feeling. "Blazekin, stop!" cried out Ash, his calls falling on deaf ears as Blazekin leapt high into the air, making for the edge of the clearing.

Blazekin appeared to be about to get away, completely unopposed by the stunned crowd beneath it, only for a flurry of leaves to collide with it and send it crashing to the ground unceremoniously. Serena and the others whipped around to see a Sceptile standing proudly behind all of them. The pokémon didn't pause to admire its leaf storm, however. "Leaf blade! Stop it, Sceptile!" came the sound of Sawyer's voice, followed shortly by the boy himself, flanked by several police officers and officer Jenny.

Sceptile leapt into the air, mimicking its foes feat, but Blazekin seemed more interested in the fact that police had arrived. It locked its gaze onto Serena once more, and she felt extremely uncomfortable at the lack of focus the pokémon was showing. Braixen bristled next to her in anger, while Pancham moved in front of its trainer defensively. Just before Sceptile could land on its target, Blazekin burst into flames, activating its flare blitz from a standing position. Sceptile's eyes widened and it barely managed to alter its course, driving its attack into the ground right next to its target to avoid the flames. Blazekin finally shifted its gaze from Serena to look with distaste at Sceptile. It then leapt away again. the streak of fire ending in mid air as Blazekin made its escape. "After it, Sceptile!" commanded Sawyer.

Ash, snapping out of the stupor that had managed to grip the clearing, turned to Greninja. "You too, Greninja! Don't let Blazekin get away!"

Despite the lack of pressure Greninja was trying to put on its legs after the attack, the pokémon stood proud when it was called upon and joined the chase without hesitation. Several of the pokémon owned by the police officers also took off in pursuit of the villainous pokémon, but they moved at a much slower pace than the three front runners. Calem turned to Spike and examined it for a moment. "You might want to sit this one out, buddy. I think I'm gonna buy you some knee pads." Spike sat down gratefully.

As the runners quickly disappeared into the forest, Sawyer and the police became the center of attention. Ash walked over to him, as did team rocket and Shauna. All the fear seemed to have melted away from him, and he greeted his friends warmly while Calem took officer Jenny aside to explain the situation. "Are you all alright?" Sawyer asked. "I got the police here as fast as I could, like you asked."

Ash grinned. "You did great, Sawyer. We found the Blazekin and we beat it, but, well, you saw what just happened. On the bright side, we found Bonnie, and Serena got her pokémon back!"

Bonnie greeted Sawyer half-heartedly, which surprised the performer, but she hid the emotion as she allowed Braixen and Pancham to be seen by Sawyer, who smiled. "That's fantastic. I'm glad you're all safe. What about Pikachu?"

The smile on Ash's face faded immediately. "Blazekin said it lost Pikachu in the forest. It could be anywhere if Blazekin is telling the truth."

Sawyer frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize..." he trailed off as the situation quickly grew awkward.

Tierno and Trevor stepped into the group, leaving Eusine to investigate the wreckage of team rocket's articuno machine. "Sawyer... I need to apologize again for the way I've been treating you. If the police trust you enough to follow you around, then I shouldn't be doubtful of you either," spoke Tierno carefully, trying to put meaning behind his words.

"Yeah," added Trevor. "I feel like my early miscalculation has caused problems for the wrong person. I apologize as well."

Sawyer glanced between the two in disbelief. His hand drifted to his pocket, and Serena noticed the bulge that could only be his special journal. "Well, if you really mean that, then I appreciate the thought, and I accept your apology. Now that we've found this place, the real culprit will have nowhere to fall back on," he asserted confidently.

"How do we know that those two aren't the real culprits?" asked James.

"They said they had a boss when they attacked Bonnie and me," explained Serena, to which Bonnie nodded vigorously.

James frowned in frustration at the complication of matters. Ash seemed to remember the incident and glanced in the direction of the house and back to Serena with concern. "Well, that may be true, but we're also now out of leads as to where to find our mystery attacker. We don't even have a motivation."

At the word motivation, Braixen visibly stiffened, but didn't say anything. Serena glanced at it, confused and worried. _I need to figure out what Blazekin said to Braixen._ Tierno turned at that and held a hand out to Jessie. "Give it," he ordered.

Jessie stared at the hand like it was a grimer. "You want a handshake? Forget it, twerp." She stuck up her nose snootily.

Tierno sighed. "I have plenty of pokémon that I can use to kick you all right into prison for taking things you have no business holding if you don't fork over that note you stole from the table right now." He held his hand out more forcefully.

Jessie glanced around, looking for support, but found nothing but cautious curiosity. She heaved a dramatic sigh and placed a crumpled piece of paper in Tierno's hand. "Thank you," he said. "Officer Jenny! We found something that belongs to you!"

The cop looked up from sending several officers into the house, per Calem's direction. She paced over to the group with some reluctance. "I should hope you all understand how difficult it was for me to get the boys together to bail you out. We're stretched thin enough protecting the festival and guarding the champion to pursue your stupid-" she paused when Tierno held out the note he had received from Jessie.

Suddenly overcome with the worry that the object in front of her might vanish, officer Jenny rushed forward and snatched the piece of paper angrily. She unfurled the page and scrutinized its contents carefully. After a moment she flung the paper to the ground. "If this is some sort of sick joke-" The cop was interrupted by her walkie-talkie coming alive, prompting her to snatch it irritably. "WHAT?!" she practically screamed into the device.

Serena felt terrible for the man on the other end of the line. "Uh... officer Jenny, I don't know the right code for this, but your growlithe has returned to the station, over."

Jenny dropped the walkie-talkie on the ground. "Officer Jenny, do you copy, over?" came the voice from the device.

The cop refused to pick it up. Ash cast her a glance of confusion before picking up the radio himself. "Officer Jenny copies. Um, she's okay, by the way, she's just surprised. Over and out, I guess." The crackle of the radio died. Ash returned the radio to Jenny, who accepted it dreamily, while Trevor liberated the paper from the ground. "You will find your Arf back at the station. That's... all it says," he read out, somewhat disappointedly. "Why did you feel the need to steal this?" he asked to Jessie.

Jessie shrugged. "None of your business. You're not a pokémon pilferer." She folded her arms like a child.

Calem reached the group and waved a hand in front of the officer's face, with no reaction. "Wow, she usually only does that when she sees me." Shauna huffed angrily, and Calem grinned. "You said that whoever did this returned Arf, Snap? That's great, right officer? Even better, we just arrested people, who are definitely for sure criminals this time. You like that, right milady?" He continued to try to get the attention of the officer with his antics, until Jenny finally turned her head to him.

"Arf is safe. Not even you can piss me off right now, Calem. I'm going to see my Arf again. As soon as the men are ready to be transported, we're moving out," she decided.

Clemont raised a hand in objection. "Hold on. This note changes everything. Think for a second. There should be no reason for whoever really did this to just give you back your growlithe, because allowing the police to get involved again can't be good for him or her."

Jessie and James muttered with Meowth about how cops ruin everything while Eusine nodded. "I concur. As much as I hate to say it, this note suggests that we were intended to at least find this place." He sighed, glancing at the poké ball containing his fallen pokémon. "I'd hate to think all our hard work was but a ploy by the secret base wrecker."

Jenny piped up. "Well, what if the guy meant to give it to me later, and he was just keeping the note here for safekeeping, huh?"

Tierno shook his head and frowned. "You heard the radio. whoever did this returned Arf already. We were meant to find this note now. The question is why." He glanced around suspiciously.

Again, Braixen grew tense, and Serena turned to it, unwilling to watch her pokémon suffer any longer. "Braixen, if you have something to say, you need to spit it out," she whispered to it, trying to keep anyone else from hearing their conversation.

Braixen glanced at its trainer and empathetically shook its head. Serena heaved a sigh. _So much for info about the enemy. It's more like the enemy gave Braixen a paralyzed status._ Ash and Bonnie, being the closest to Serena and Braixen, noticed the exchange, but remained mum about it.

Trevor, Clemont, and Calem put their heads together while everyone else went quiet to allow them to think, save officer Jenny, who began yelling for her subordinates to hurry up through her walkie-talkie. Clemont stared at the exchange between the cops. At first, she thought he was annoyed, but there was a focus behind the rim of his glasses that suggested otherwise. "Officer, how many units do you have guarding Diantha?" he asked.

Jenny glanced up and shrugged. "Just one. We needed the others for this operation and/or patrolling the festival. Why?"

Trevor looked up, coming to the same realization as Clemont. "The cave-in you described... that was a trap deliberately set to get us to summon the cops. How fast can we get back to the city?"

Officer Jenny pulled out a small device and pushed a few buttons. "It could be up to thirty minutes of jogging back to the abandoned manor to get our cars and at least twenty minutes driving through that beaten down path back to town. You're lucky Sawyer sent his Sceptile ahead with a message for us, or we wouldn't have gotten here this soon. Why?"

"Wait, how do you know about the manor?" interrupted Eusine.

Jenny glanced at him, annoyed. "You think we don't know where the champion and her men are staying?"

Eusine frowned and didn't respond. Clemont continued, his face starting to pale. "I think this was a trick. This person took our things just to lure us out here, and now that we're out here, there's nearly nobody guarding Diantha. I... think he or she wants to finish what they started." He let the statement hang in the air ominously.

Realization began to dawn on everyone's faces. Jenny snatched at her radio. "Jenny to pokémon center. Come in, pokémon center. Repeat, Jenny to pokémon center. Come in, pokémon center."

The uncomfortable fizzing of the radio was the only noise in the clearing. Eventually, the radio miraculously crackled to life. "Pokémon center to officer Jenny," came nurse Joy's voice. "What's the problem, officer? Over."

"Is Diantha alright?!" yelled the officer, again disregarding walkie-talkie protocol.

Silence on the airwaves. Then, Joy's voice resurfaced. "I... we need help here. The officer and the medical professional we sent for are unconscious, and Diantha is missing. I reapeat, we need-" her voice crackled and fizzed for a long moment before a new one came on the line. "Hello? Is this thing on?" rang out Kathi Lee's voice.

Jenny stared at her communication device in disbelief. "Who is this?" she asked.

"Oh, hi, officer, I'm Kathi Lee, Diantha's assistant. Look, nurse Joy walked in on a bad scene, so I'm taking over to let you know that everything is okay! Diantha is fine, I promise you. Well, as fine as a poisoned person can be... Anyways, I knew that Diantha would be targeted here with everyone else being lured away, so I helped her move to a safer location. Sorry we couldn't tell you, but Diantha insisted we tell nobody. And we were right! A bunch of gas started to fill the room really soon after she and Gardevoir teleported away, but whoever attacked us went away when they realized Diantha wasn't there. Oh, and we all sort of passed out."A muffled affirmation of the information came from the walkie-talkie in nurse Joy's voice.

Everyone in the clearing was speechless. "You mean to tell me that you knew we were spreading out too thin to protect our top priority and you didn't feel the need to tell us?!" spoke Jenny with barely suppressed anger.

"With all due respect, officer, I would hope you're arresting some of the body guards I hired for the sole purpose of being completely loyal to Diantha. Forgive us if we're a bit untrusting at the moment."

"Wait," interjected Calem, leaning in to be heard over the radio. "Kathi, where's Diantha now, and why in the world would you stick around if you assumed someone would attack you?" he asked, both questions sounding extremely justified to Serena.

Silence took over the line for another moment, giving Serena time to mourn for the death of walkie-talkie lingo in the conversation being had. "With any luck, the champion has reached Suicune's shrine and is waiting for tonight's final ceremony as we speak, safe from attackers since the shrine's location isn't known to the public. As for me, well, I stayed behind to pass on this message I'm giving you now. I'd die before I told anyone where the shrine is, so as long as Jenny or I don't tell anyone where the shrine is, Diantha will be safe!" she exclaimed with a radio crackle.

Calem frowned. "What about Diantha though? Is she well enough to be on her own? What about after the festival?"

"Oh, that's the best part!" exclaimed Kathi. "Suicune should be able to cure Diantha and Gardevoir of whatever their problem is when they perform the ceremony. After then, she can handle herself just fine!" Kathi Lee sounded extremely proud of her plan.

"I mean, she isn't wrong. Suicune is renowned for its ability to purify dirty water, after all. It's not a stretch to imagine that it could expel poisons in some way, not to mention that at least attempting this will prevent the worst case scenario of the festival not being performed. None of us need to deal with an angry Suicune at the moment," commented Eusine idly.

Clemont stepped forward as well. "So you're going to leave the two things that our culprit wants the most hidden only behind the fact that only you and the police know where the shrine is? Do you even have contact with Diantha right now so we know she's okay?"

More radio fizzing and popping. "Well... not exactly... but I'm sure she's fine. She is the champion, after all."

"You know she's still recovering from being ambushed just a few days ago, right? Even disregarding the fact that your story of how all of you were somehow gassed without the whole building finding out, your plan doesn't make any sense! We have no way of knowing that Diantha is safe!" Clemont ranted into the radio.

For a moment, it appeared as if Clemont had scared Kathi Lee right off the radio. Then, it buzzed to life again. "Look, it wasn't a great plan, I know. But I'm very glad I put faith in my boss to handle herself rather than force her to stay here, where she very clearly would have been assaulted again. Did you have any better ideas?"

Clemont looked away from the radio. "I'm sorry," he admitted. "I have to admit I'm frustrated that we were tricked and that Bonnie was used as a mean to that end." He paused, wanting to add more, but he gave officer Jenny a look that indicated that she should take over.

Jenny nodded to him. "Alright, Kathi Lee, you and nurse Joy need to stay where you are. We'll work out this whole situation once all the facts are assembled and we're back in town. This punk is going to regret taking Arf from me for so long. Is everyone at the center in stable condition?" she asked.

As she spoke, the police officers emerged from the small house, escorting the barely conscious and handcuffed guards in front of them. On cop held the laptop from the table in his hand, but other than that there wasn't anything of apparent worth to take from the single room. "Everyone here is fine, officer, just woozy. We'll wait for you here and explain everything we can when you arrive. Over and out." The radio died again.

Jenny cast a sideways glance at the house and the wreckage. "It's a shame we don't have the men to properly investigate this place or that secret base at the moment, but the thugs and the health of the citizens has to come first. As for all of you... I should arrest all of you for continuing an investigation without the permission of the law, but it lead to Arf coming back, so I'm going to let you all off the hook just this once. Now, let's get back to town. We've a mastermind to capture."

Calem stepped forward before Eusine could complain about his secret base being searched. "We deeply appreciate your generosity, madam, and we are thrilled to have your assistance in this matter once again." He bowed dramatically.

"So what are we waiting for?" asked Bonnie. "Let's go catch that jerk!" she started to sprint off in a random direction, only for Clemont's aipom arm to stop her.

"Bonnie, you don't know where you're going, and there's still a chance Sceptile and Greninja managed to catch up to Blazekin. We have to at least wait for them," pointed out Ash.

Jenny consented to wait for their return, as did everyone else, with a bit of annoyance from some. Eusine passed the time by arguing with the police about why they couldn't search his secret base, while team rocket avoided the police completely, moving to their wreckage and examining it for salvageable parts. Tierno, Sawyer and Ash started to talk like friendly rivals about their pokémon, which gave Serena some relief that they had made up their differences. This relief evaporated when she realized that Tierno was boasting loudly and glancing at her to see her reaction. She chose to ignore him. Clemont had joined the conversation with one of the police, although it was in regard to the laptop they had confiscated rather than secret base searching etiquette. Calem and Shauna talked quietly together, and Serena noticed for the first time that Trevor was looking with mild annoyance at the two. She paused in the brushing of her pokémon that she had taken to doing while she waited, all her pokémon being without it for over a day, to stare at the photographer. Something about his attitude had been bothering her, and she half wanted to confront him about it, but before she could, a pair of small arms found themselves wrapped around her tightly. She glanced at them and realized that Bonnie was hugging her. "I really missed you, Serena," whispered the girl, her voice muffled even further by Serena's clothing.

It suddenly occurred to Serena that she hadn't properly talked to her fellow female travelling companion since they had reunited. A pang of guilt stabbed through her, and she berated her selfishness in giving her pokémon her full attention. To try to make up for it, she pulled Bonnie in and held her tightly. "I missed you too, Bonnie. I'm so sorry about what you've had to go through. I just wish I had been strong enough to protect you yesterday." Another wave of regret washed over her, and she felt the threat of tears spilling from her eyes reemerge.

With considerable effort, Serena put away her crying to enjoy the moment with the younger girl. Eventually, the two separated, and Bonnie beamed at her pseudo-sister. "I'm just glad we're back together again."

Looking out at the small groups in the clearing that were avoiding each other, Serena couldn't help but muse over how true Bonnie's statement was. In any case, she wasn't about to tamper with the younger girl's innocence. She instead handed Bonnie her brush and motioned Braixen over, allowing the young girl to brush her pokémon's fur. Seeing both her friend and her pokémon happy, doing the everyday activities that she had grown so accustomed to over the past months, allowed her to momentarily forget about her concerns over the investigation and Ash. The moment ended as the forest rustled near the edge of the clearing before Sceptile and Greninja emerged, flanked by the pokémon that the officers had sent after Blazekin. Ash and Sawyer immediately dropped their conversation to rush up to their pokémon. "Greninja! Did you catch Blazekin?" he asked hopefully.

Greninja shook its head and looked down in shame. Sceptile performed a similar motion. Sawyer patted his pokémon on the shoulder. "Hey, it's okay buddy. We'll have that crooked pokémon caught before too long. Get some rest." Sawyer returned his Sceptile.

Ash murmured similar encouragement to Greninja and returned it. The worry was clearly evident in his eyes. Tierno chose the moment to approach Serena and Bonnie nervously. "Hey, Serena?" he asked tentatively.

Serena turned away from the police officers returning their pokémon to face Tierno. "What's up, Tierno?" she asked.

The dancer shuffled from foot to foot in what Serena would have called a dance if all the confidence Tierno usually put into his steps wasn't completely absent. "Um... can we talk about something when we get back to town, privately?"

The word privately sent so many red flags waving in Serena's mind that she started to see the color. "Why can't we talk now?"

Tierno cast a glance at Bonnie. "We're about to move out, and like I said, this is between us. Is that okay?" he practically begged.

Serena tilted her head in confusion, but nevertheless managed to nod. "Of course. No problem," she managed to get out.

Tierno smiled gratefully and thanked Serena before rushing off to rejoin Ash and Sawyer. Bonnie looked up at Serena. The look on the performer's face must have been strange, because the usually extremely chatty girl didn't say anything for a moment. Only a moment. "So, Serena. What was that about? Because I think-"

Serena sighed, interrupting Bonnie. "I'm worried about that too, Bonnie. I'll deal with it when the time comes, but right now we need to focus on getting back to town and catching this criminal."

Bonnie frowned. "Serena, did something happen? What about you and Ash?"

Serena looked at Ash, who appeared about as upset as she felt. "It's going to be fine, Bonnie. Everything will be fine after tomorrow, I promise you that. Come on, I think we're about to leave." She rose and motioned for the girl and her pokémon to follow.

Despite clearly being upset that her question was unanswered, Bonnie didn't push her friend. Serena was extremely grateful for that, unsure of how to answer questions that she was busy just asking herself, let alone answering for others. As she had suspected, the four police officers and officer Jenny had gathered themselves and were taking the lead, flanking the two prisoners as they made their way back to the manor. Everyone else followed in small clusters that formed and broke apart just as quickly as the group trekked forward. Trying to ignore the immense tired feeling attacking her body from all angles due to all the running she had done today, Serena found it strange that the two body guards hadn't said anything since being arrested, but she decided that she wasn't the best person to pursue the matter. Instead, she focused on making polite conversation with people. The only two people that stuck together with any consistency were Shauna and Calem. Serena again noticed that Trevor was staring with an openly belligerent look at the two, while Calem himself was being more flirtatious with Shauna than normal, which was saying something. She again felt the urge to confront him, but Ash stole her gaze. Of everyone, Ash was the only one actively separating from the others, only speaking when spoken to. Serena was torn. On one hand, she very badly wanted to comfort Ash. On the other, she couldn't promise herself that the uncertainty she carried about the future, Ash's past, and perhaps most importantly how he felt about her now wouldn't somehow mess up her attempts. The conundrum began to consume her, to the point that she didn't notice she had separated from the group and that Shauna had started walking next to her until the girl began speaking. "You should really just try to comfort him, Serena."

Serena jumped a bit. "Wha-!" she exclaimed before relaxing and lowering her voice. "Oh, Shauna, you startled me. I... don't know. I don't trust myself to say the right thing."

Shauna patted Serena on the back. "Serena, I waited over four years to talk to Calem again. I know a thing or two about wanting to hear from someone badly and having my calls go unanswered. It really doesn't matter what you say, he just needs to hear from you."

The simplification of the situation summoned a wave of indignant anger in Serena. "Shauna, I waited for nearly a decade to see Ash again. If this is so important to you, why aren't you off gabbing with Calem right now?" she asked angrily.

Shauna recoiled, hurt. "I... was just trying to help Serena. If you don't want to talk to me, then just say so," she spoke, trying and failing to keep her voice level. The girl began to walk away.

Realizing her mistake, Serena moved to prevent her friend from leaving. "Shauna, wait, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I'm just... frustrated, and I have some questions I need answered before I feel like I can face Ash as the friend he deserves. You and Calem make this kind of thing look easy."

Shauna sighed and shrugged. "We aren't a couple, nice as that would be. Calem's just my best friend right now. I trust him a lot, and I know he trusts me, but you shouldn't look at us for an example. When I try to bring the topic of a relationship up, he dodges it and acts like the person I fell for." She paused, considering her situation.

Serena felt pity. "I'm sorry. I guess I shouldn't judge. We aren't very good at this, are we?" she asked.

Shauna smiled. "We aren't, no. It might have something to do with the criminal case happening right now, or maybe it's the fact that we let our crushes be separated from us for years, or-"

"Maybe it's because you can't see what's right in front of your face," interrupted Trevor, standing right in front of the girls.

Both ladies froze. They didn't know what to day. "How much of that did you hear, Trevor?" asked Serena carefully.

Trevor's hands were clenched into fists in anger. "I heard all of it. I heard all of it because I'm paying attention, trying to solve a crime to help my friends while they fawn over people that abandoned them for years."

Serena felt indignation well up inside of her, but in the same moment she realized that Trevor was focusing all of his attention on Shauna. "Calem didn't abandon us, Trevor," she responded quietly. "You said it yourself. We couldn't follow him after he won the Kalos League."

"I know," responded Trevor, not backing down. "I told that so many times, worked tirelessly with you until the man was a speck in the back of your subconscious, and now that he's back you're enraptured with him again, forgetting all about the people that stuck with you when he abandoned you."

Serena found some part of Trevor's speech suspicious, but she didn't dare get involved, lest he blow her secret to Ash and everyone else standing just out of view through the foliage. "I..." Shauna stammered. "I'm sorry if I've been mistreating you, Trevor. You and Tierno are my best friends, and if I'm not acting like it, then I want to try and remedy that as soon as possible."

Trevor scoffed. "Right. I know you, Shauna. As soon as our business here is concluded, you'll see the truth again, and maybe then it will finally sink in." He turned and stalked off without waiting for a response.

Shauna frowned. "What was he talking about? Have I been ignoring everyone else to talk to Calem?" she asked her female friend.

Serena had to think about it. "I think Trevor's still upset that we haven't caught the culprit," she finally answered. _There's no way I'm telling her what I think it is._ "He'll get over it when we find this criminal, which is something I hope happens soon, for all our sakes."

Shauna didn't say anything, but she nodded. The two resolved to make their way back onto the path of the main group, again mingling with others. As Serena's thoughts did their best to bother her, She felt a tug on her vest. Serena turned and realized that Braixen was trying to get her attention. Casting a glance at the forlorn Ash and the sullen Trevor, Serena decided to accept the excuse to forgo rejoining the others for a few more moments. She knelt down a bit to be face to face with Braixen. "What can I do for you, Braixen?" she asked.

Braixen opened its mouth to speak, then it paused. The fire type ran off, to the back of the main group where team rocket was hanging out and scheming. It spoke rapidly, waving its arms and focusing mainly on Meowth. The trio discussed the interruption for a brief moment before they somewhat reluctantly sent Meowth off, the pokémon following Braixen back to its trainer. "Let's make dis quick. I'm a busy pokémon," it snapped.

Braixen shot a look at Meowth before returning its focus to Serena. "Braixen brai braixen," it said.

"It says it wants ta tell ya what Blazekin said to it." Meowth realized what it was saying. "Wait, Blazekin told ya something? Why haven't ya shared with the class, bud?"

Braixen ignored the comment and looked at Serena intensely as they continued to walk forward. Serena nodded to her starter. "I'm listening, Braixen. Tell me what got you so riled up."

Braixen composed itself and began to speak again. "Braixen... braixen braixen braixen braixen brai braixen brai."

Meowth paused for a second, collecting all the information in its head. "It said... dat Blazekin said ta it when da twerpette asked why Blazekin did wat it did, Blazekin said dat it did wat it did because it knew dat it could because da trainer was weak."

"Braixen braixen brai... braixen braixen," continued the pokémon.

"It also said dat did wat it did because it wanted to teach dat trainer a lesson on how being weak could ruin yer life if ya aren't careful. Jeez, harsh."

Serena paused. "I guess you took that as an attack on your strength, Braixen?" she guessed.

Braixen nodded vigorously. "Braixen brai!" it exclaimed with a huff.

"I won't stand for a bully insulting you or me, Serena," spoke Meowth. "This is noticeably less helpful ta me den I thought it'd be."

Serena ignored the peanut gallery. "Braixen, I appreciate you speaking up for me. It means a lot, really. The only way to deal with it now is to prove that Blazekin wrong by catching its trainer before he or she can pull off whatever his or her goal is. I know you're strong. We just need to show everyone else, right?"

Braixen's eyes shown with admiration for its trainer. It nodded excitedly, causing Pancham and Sylveon to bounce around, sharing in the joviality. Meowth grumbled. "Well, I think dat's more den my normal share of sweetness for da day. If you're done, twerp pokémon, I have important team rocket business ta attend to."

Serena nodded gratefully to the pokémon "We appreciate your help, Meowth," she said thankfully.

Meowth waved a paw behind it, already sauntering away. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Serena refocused on Braixen. "Thank you for telling me, Braixen. I was worried about you after what happened. Don't worry, because as long as we stick together, no criminal can stop us." She allowed some of her positivity to return to her voice, and it infected her pokémon.

All three of them sounded off in jovial unison, startling Clemont, who was walking closest to them. Serena muttered an apology and allowed her group to again merge completely with the main group on the trek to the manor. Though she still couldn't bring herself to speak with Ash and Trevor was continuing with his sudden mood shift to brooding, Serena enjoyed conversation with everyone else, even Eusine and Tierno. The time flew by, and when they arrived at the manor, Clemont ran inside to gather whatever gear he wanted to salvage from his machines while all the police piled into the cars, body guards in tow. Bonnie made faces at them as they sped away. Calem sighed. "Can't say I'm not a little upset that they didn't have room for us. Jenny'll have all the case information before us at this rate, and then how am I supposed to impress her?" He continued his theatrics as they retrieved Clemont and set off again, to everyone's amusement but Ash's.

Serena realized that she couldn't take it anymore. She had to at least try to cheer the usually cheery boy up. If nothing else, seeing him happy would make her happy. Moving forward before she could doubt herself, Serena again broke from the main crowd to join Ash, who was walking slightly separated from everyone. When the trainer noticed that he had company, he managed a nod of acknowledgement to the performer. He didn't say anything, and Serena realized that it would be her task to initiate conversation. "Ash, are you alright? You know you can talk to me if you want to."

Ash sighed. He was extremely dejected, that much Serena could tell. "Pikachu could be anywhere, Serena. What bothers me is that it hasn't found its way back yet, if what Blazekin said is true and it really did lose my buddy in the woods. I don't want to admit it, but it makes me believe Pikachu might be badly hurt, even incapacitated... and the other option is worse." He turned his head away. "Sorry. I don't mean to dump my problems on you. I just... really wanted Pikachu to be with Bonnie."

Serena looked briefly at Braixen and Pancham, both pokémon following her closely. With bravado she didn't know she had, Serena placed a hand on Ash's shoulder comfortingly. "Ash, I understand how you feel. I'm just as worried as you are, but we have to have some faith in Pikachu. You two have been in worse situations than this, I'm sure. You can get through this because you're both strong. I know you are."

Ash stared at Serena for a moment. "I appreciate you trying to cheer me up," he finally admitted with a small smile. "I'm glad Bonnie and your pokémon are back as well. I won't let my concerns get in the way of trying to catch this criminal, don't worry."

Serena smiled warmly at her friend. "That isn't as important to me as making sure you're happy, Ash. As soon as we stop whatever this person is trying to do with Diantha and Suicune, we'll spend all our time combing this forest for Pikachu," she promised.

Ash's smile widened a bit. "Thanks, Serena. It means a lot to me." He looked like he wanted to go on, but stopped himself.

With a bit of regret, Serena removed her hand from Ash's shoulder and continued to walk next to him in silence. Even if they weren't speaking, Serena felt better walking next to him, maybe because of how used to it she had become. The walk back to town was much longer than the walk back to the manor, and Serena was extremely grateful to see civilization once more, her body just about ready to give out on her. Calem catapulted into the lead. "Come on, let's hit up the pokémon center first. We all have pokémon that need healing, and we owe Kathi Lee a visit anyways."

Nobody objected, and everyone made their way through the town, passing the ever-boisterous festivities. Serena had honestly expected the number of people to dwindle after the champion had finished her exhibition battle, but if anything, the town was whipped up into even more of a frenzy preparing to witness Suicune's miracle. She realized that many of the stalls had stopped selling food and were now peddling various blankets, lanterns, and other supplies to be used to watch the river. It baffled Serena how much the town square could change yet stay the same after she had been gone for a day. The familiar healing center eventually found itself in front of the group once again, to Serena's relief. Entering, The group found the building still mostly abandoned, with Wigglytuff manning the service desk. Its already large eyes widened a bit when it saw the number of trainers coming to it for aid, but it steeled itself as it was showered by poké balls that contained pokémon needing care. Meowth explained that Wigglytuff said it was going to need some time to get through all of the patients. Calem smiled. "That works out. We'll be in the back, Wigglytuff."

Strangely, Wigglytuff accepted the statement without question and disappeared with everybody's pokémon. Clemont took the lead now, showing everyone who hadn't been there yet to where Diantha had once been. He opened the door to reveal Kathi Lee sitting on one of the beds next to officer Jenny. A small growlithe wagged its tail happily as it sat next to the officer. Somehow, everyone managed to crowd into the room, making it feel much smaller than it actually was. Jenny greeted them all warmly, which shocked everyone but Calem. "Everyone, meet officer Jenny and Arf. Together, they're tolerable."

Jenny ignored the comment as everyone said their hellos to Arf, who barked cutely. Kathi Lee also greeted everyone. "I was just re-explaining what's happened to Jenny, here. I assume you all want to know as well."

Almost everyone agreed or nodded in some way. "I guess I'll start from the beginning," spoke Kathi Lee. "I rushed over to Diantha's side first thing in the morning with the remaining body guards. As soon as we got there, we were shown to Diantha, who the doctor had managed to rouse. She... wasn't feeling great, but at least she was awake. After nurse Joy returned to her station, I forced everyone but the doctor to wait outside and I explained everything to Diantha. When I finished, she exchanged a look with her gardevoir, sighed, and sent that medical man outside. Oh, he protested, of course, but Diantha can be scary when she makes her mind up on something. She leaned in closely to me, and she asked really intensely if there was anyone nearby that we could trust. I was a bit scared, but I told her that Calem and the others were off hunting Bonnie's kidnapper, who they hoped was the same person who had attacked her. She frowned and went silent for another moment. Then she sighed heavily and told me she was going to leave. I insisted that she couldn't, that she wasn't well, but she insisted right back that Suicune could fix her injuries, and that she wasn't safe here. I pointed out that her body guards and the police were just outside the door. She responded that her body guards were the ones that had attack Serena and Bonnie. I wanted to stop her from trying to go to the shrine, really, but she made the idea sound very convincing, at least until she was forced to relax her body as the toxins sent a wave of pain over it. I decided to try a different angle, so I argued that her injuries would prevent her from making it to the shrine undetected and alone. She responded by asking if I had her key stone. I did, of course, and I gave it back to her, asking why she asked. She just smiled at me and told me not to follow her. Then she mega evolved Gardevoir right in front of me, and she disappeared! She's done this before, of course, when she didn't feel like doing a shoot or just wanted to get away from the paparazzi, but even without injury, mega Gardevoir could only carry her a short distance. To answer your question over the radio, I don't know how safe she is or if she made it to the shrine, but I knew Gardevoir would at least come back here if something went wrong, so I resolved to stay here in case she failed to make it to the shrine and needed help. It was right then that the door opened and a bunch of gas filled the room. It surprised me, and I tried not to breathe it in, but I must have done a terrible job, because I remember the two body guards dragging that medical man and the police officer into the room and arguing about something. I think they were mad that Diantha wasn't there, but they didn't stick around, and I finally passed out from the gas as they left. I was honestly surprised they didn't attack me." She finally stopped talking and took a few breaths to recover.

Nobody had anything to say to properly surmise what had just been said, so Clemont instead continued the thought. "It would seem those two body guards were traitors as well, then. They probably thought that Diantha was still nearby and went after her. I'm surprised they didn't come back, honestly."

"How could they?" countered Calem. "If they meant to finish the job our attacker started with Diantha, then sure, their plan makes perfect sense. If they wanted to kidnap her, however, then they would have had a plan for that and executed it with Kathi Lee to use her to draw the champion out, much in the way this person drew us away from the center using Bonnie."

Tierno did a double take to Calem. "Calem, are you seriously suggesting, based on that testimony, that our criminal is trying to get rid of the champion like that?"

Calem nodded seriously. "It's the only thing that makes sense to me," he explained. "Unless they had no feasible way to get Kathi Lee out of the building without possibly drawing attention to themselves, they would have taken her. Nurse Joy, where are the exits to the building?"

Nurse Joy looked up, surprised she was being addressed. "Oh, there's a few, but they're all wired to fire alarms except for the front door."

Calem clapped his hands together decisively. "There you have it. Our criminal wants to kill the champion."

The word sent a chill through the room. "T-that's terrible!" spoke up Bonnie angrily.

Clemont consoled Bonnie while Eusine frowned. "I suppose if the criminal still intends to prevent the Suicune festival's conclusion and draw Suicune out for capture, ending the champion would have the same effect as incapacitating her," he reasoned. "From my perspective, the only two ways the criminal can prevent the ceremony from taking place are by either incapacitating the champion or by reaching the shrine and attacking Suicune directly, neither of which should be possible at this time."

Officer Jenny frowned. "Even if that's true, I still think it would be a good idea to send some officers to the shrine to protect the champion."

"No!" burst out Trevor. Everyone paused to stare at the boy, and he composed himself. "What I meant to say was that, like Eusine said, the criminal has no way of getting to the shrine right now. Sending police officers is like asking the traitorous body guards or the mastermind themselves to track them to the shrine's location."

Kathi Lee considered the information and hung her head. "You're right. I owe all of you an apology. The only reason this person has been able to get at us at all is my shoddy hiring skills for this trip. None of this would have even been a problem if I had my regular team of bodyguards to use, but they're all busy providing extra protection for the privacy of the Kalos Queen. You know how the paparazzi loves to take advantage of things like the master class competition."

Serena and Shauna shared a glance. Even though they had nothing to do with the planning of the event, they both felt the guilt of having participated in the event that had now indirectly caused their misfortune. Calem gave Kathi Lee a smile. "Buck up, Kathi. It's not exactly a secret that Aria is nearly as popular as the champion herself, especially right now. I'd wager that your traitors knew this and were ready for you when the spots opened up."

Kathi Lee looked up. "I... suppose you're right. I did meet my hiring quota for this time of year much faster than normal." She almost managed a smile as she took Calem's words of blame-deflecting to heart.

James frowned. "That's fine and dandy, but deducing how these people got hired won't lead us to the boss of this operation," he pointed out.

"I have a question, Kathi Lee," spoke Ash in response to the challenge. "Did Diantha happen to say anything to you related to what she saw when she was attacked? Anything about who the attacker was or what he or she looked like?"

To everyone's chagrin, Kathi Lee frowned and shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I would have included that information in my story if she had. I asked, of course, about the attack, but she only said that she was walking around town for some fresh air with Gardevoir when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her side and she blacked out, without even a glimpse of her attacker. The next thing she remembers is seeing nurse Joy and a doctor standing over her in this room."

Shauna suddenly gasped, drawing everyone's attention. "Diantha said that she was attacked suddenly, had no time to react, and never even left town that night?" she asked with a quavering voice.

Kathi Lee tilted her head. "Those are Diantha's words, yes. Why does it matter?"

Realization dawned on Serena, and she turned to Shauna in shock. The same knowledge flashed in her friend's eyes. "AZ lied," spoke Tierno, voicing the revelation found by the two girls.

For a brief moment, everyone put the same pieces together in their heads except for nurse Joy, officer Jenny and Kathi Lee, who had the situation explained to them briefly by Clemont. The room then proceeded to erupt in anger at the betrayal. "I should have known!" cried Eusine. "That man was never to be trusted, and I look forward to making him pay for this insult to my honor and Suicune!"

Of all people, Calem was the most distraught. "Damn you, AZ..." he muttered. "You think you know a guy. If I ever find him out in those woods again, he's gonna get a stern talking to."

Serena, for her part, was somewhat conflicted. Although AZ had certainly lied, she had a hard time believing he was stealthy enough to sneak up on the champion or had enough social savvy to hire someone to do it for him. The conflicting thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door that startled everyone out of their angry fervor against AZ. Nurse Joy carefully opened the door and allowed the room to visibly relax at the sight of Wigglytuff impressively balancing everyone's poké balls on a small tray. The group gratefully retrieved their partners and returned right back to business. "So does this mean AZ did it?" asked Sawyer aloud.

Clemont frowned. "He's certainly the prime suspect again, but there's still too many unanswered questions to confirm that," he reasoned.

"Are you kidding?" blurted out Tierno. "It's obvious what we have to do now! That giant is to blame for everything!"

Serena could sense another argument starting to bubble over, so she was almost grateful when Jessie started complaining. "Can we argue about this somewhere other than this stuffy room? There isn't even a window or a fan to cool this place down, for crying out loud!"

Officer Jenny regarded the criminals coldly. "I think we have everything we need from this pokémon center. I'm going to return to the police station. The rest of you are welcome to join me so we can settle this debate over AZ civilly." She rose and made her way out the door with Arf.

Everyone just watched her go for a moment. Calem glanced around the room incredulously. "What are we staring at? The woman just invited us to argue about criminals in a police station! What are we waiting for?"

As if a spell had been lifted on the room, the group made their way out of the building, towards the station next door. Nurse Joy obviously stayed behind with Wigglytuff, promising to look after the still unconscious police officer and medical man. As Serena reached the door, a thought suddenly struck her. She turned around, and, telling Braixen to tell the others that she would be out in a moment, she returned to the center and made a beeline for the bathroom. She pulled out a fresh set of clothes from her bag before setting the bag down on the ground outside the ladies restroom. With a bit of excitement, Serena entered the bathroom and quickly changed into a fresh set of clothes, taking extreme care to transfer her blue ribbon and her business card between sets of clothing. After all the mud, rain, and sweat that had taken hold of her clothing over the past few days, Serena had nearly forgotten how much she enjoyed being clean. Looking in the bathroom mirror, she smiled at her reflection, as pristine as she could be on short notice once again. _Think of the positives. Your pokémon are back. Bonnie is back. Diantha is hopefully safe. Pikachu is hopefully safe in the woods somewhere. You have clean clothes!_ Serena laughed to herself for the first time in a few days at how such a trivial change of clothes could lighten her mood.

Deciding not to keep her friends waiting, Serena stepped out of the bathroom and scooped up her bag again, placing the clothes she had just shed neatly in the bag. When she turned, she realized that Pancham was standing nearby, waiting for her to return. The panda pokémon's face broke out into a smile when its trainer returned, and Serena reciprocated. "How do I look, Pancham?" she asked with a small playful twirl.

Pancham clapped its paws together. "Pancham pan!" it exclaimed jovially.

Deep down, Serena knew that Pancham would have probably responded similarly to her even if she had come out wearing the same set of clothes, but she accepted the compliment gratefully nonetheless. "Come on, the others are probably waiting," she said to her pokémon, proceeding to lead it out of the center.

The scene Serena was greeted with upon exiting the center was akin to a stand off. Eusine, Kathi Lee and team rocket were standing by the pokémon center entrance next to Braixen and Sylveon, watching the spectacle in front of them idly. Said event consisted of Clemont and Trevor staring each other down angrily, each with their own respective groups of people behind them. Tierno stood right behind Trevor, while Shauna and Calem stood a little further behind him, Shauna clearly not interested in the animosity. Clemont's side had Ash, Bonnie and Sawyer all standing close behind him. "What did I miss?" asked Serena as her pokémon rejoined her.

Without taking his eyes from Trevor, Clemont responded. "Trevor and I have differing opinions on the guilt of AZ. I personally don't believe that we can label him as the perpetrator based on the evidence we have."

Trevor scowled. "We have several credible witnesses who saw AZ lying right here, AZ took the first opportunity to leave town when he could, and, most importantly, we don't have any evidence to go off of that would indicate anyone else committed this crime, unless you'd like to imply one of the body guards masterminded this entire operation."

Tierno nodded vigorously in agreement with everything that Trevor said while Clemont sighed. "Lack of evidence of innocence is not evidence of guilt," he countered. "You need to see reason, here, Trevor. We're talking about accusing someone of attempted murder and kidnapping here. People have already suffered as a result of rash judgement on your part over the past few days."

"You just can't accept the fact that it's not one of us, can you?" accused Trevor. "You're just dying to find out that one of your friends betrayed you rather than focusing on trying to catch the real criminal. I haven't forgotten what you said last night, Clemont. Why don't you just go ahead and call me the criminal? That's what you want, isn't it?!" he practically yelled in fury.

Clemont was taken aback, and he composed himself a bit. Serena was eternally grateful to the festival for keeping the majority of people on the other side of town. "I... that's not at all what I'm trying to imply," stammered Clemont. "All I'm trying to say is that I would rather we consider the options in front of us carefully rather than make a rash decision and allow this criminal to walk."

Both Ash and Tierno had their hands resting on poké balls. Bonnie seemed like she couldn't quite understand the situation, and Shauna was being spoken to by Calem. Eusine leaned over to Serena. "As much as I'm enjoying this, I would have to recommend that you live up to AZ's expectations here, in the interest of preserving any hope Suicune has of being protected from the criminal," he whispered.

For a moment, Serena had no idea what he was talking about, but then AZ's words from the forest rushed into her mind. _People like you that don't have a choice but to be successful for the good of others._ She looked at Eusine, who was already looking away and pretending that he had never said anything in the first place. Apparently he had heard more of the conversation that day between Shauna and her than he let on. Ignoring that for the moment, she decided it was worth a shot to keep the peace and she walked in between the two rival groups, her pokémon following her loyally. "That's enough, all of you," she declared with as much force as possible. "We have no reason to be turning on each other right now. It's more important than ever that we work together."

"I can't do that when he's willing to believe that my friends are criminals," spoke Trevor simply.

"I can't work with somebody who continues to make the same mistakes over and over without trying to correct them," responded Clemont.

Serena sighed. "Enough. We all need to cool off. No more arguing. Clemont, you go over there." she pointed to a bench a few meters away. "Trevor, you go over there." She pointed to another bench a few meters in the opposite direction. "This conversation is over until we can speak without slinging accusations at each other." She folded her arms and prayed that they would listen to her.

Clemont and Trevor stared at each other, then at Serena for a moment. Finally, Ash placed a hand on Clemont's shoulder. "Come on. You heard her," he spoke calmly, but with authority.

Clemont looked at his friend and sighed heavily before making his way to Serena's requested bench. Serena flashed Ash a smile and focused her attention on Trevor. The boy stood halfway between defiance and compliance, unable to select an action. Calem whispered something to Shauna, and the girl whispered something to Trevor in turn. Trevor's eyes narrowed at Shauna's secret news, but he turned away and moved to his bench without a sound. Shauna mouthed the word thanks to Serena before following Trevor's group to their bench. Serena realized she was now standing alone in the center of the path. She couldn't believe that what she said actually worked. Eusine sauntered over to her. "Not bad, kid. I'd follow you if I didn't want you to stay out of my business forever."

Serena tilted her head at the man "Thanks?" she said uncertainly.

Eusine smiled. "Certainly. I'll be in the police station, enjoying the air conditioning, if you happen to learn anything about Suicune." The man walked away with a swish of his cape, and Kathi Lee fled behind him.

With their exit, Serena realized that three distinct groups, those being team rocket, Trevor's group and Clemont's group. Not willing to be an outlier, Serena made her way over to Ash and Clemont's group, where she was welcomed warmly by everyone. "That was impressive, Serena," complimented Clemont. "I feel I need to apologize to you and the others for my outburst. I just don't understand why Trevor and the others insist on attacking everyone who gets an iota of evidence against them." He sighed from his seat on the bench.

Sawyer frowned. "We understand, Clemont. I, of all people understand. This situation can't be resolved quickly, like a pokémon battle."

"I just don't understand what happened while I was gone that caused us to argue like this!" cried out Bonnie in frustration.

Ash knelt down to Bonnie's level. "Bonnie, after what happened to you, we were all really tense for a while. We still are. This is bigger than all of us. We're talking about the safety of a legendary pokémon and the life of the champion. If something we couldn't fix happened to the champion, the whole region would suffer, and this town will suffer if something happens to Suicune. Serena was right to stop our arguing. As much as I think Trevor and Tierno are wrong, we have to think about the bigger picture. Us and those few police officers are all Diantha and Suicune have right now. We can't afford infighting." He paused, looking at Bonnie for understanding in her eyes.

Serena was impressed by Ash's response. It was nice to know that the inspiring nature of the boy hadn't diminished over time. Bonnie apparently agreed. "I guess that makes sense... I don't like it though."

"You don't have to like it," interjected Serena with a small smile. "We just have to deal with it until the champion and Suicune are safe. After this is over, I promise you we'll all be friends again."

"Except for team rocket," pointed out Clemont.

"Well, that goes without saying," responded Serena. "So what's our next move?"

"I want to go looking for Pikachu, if we have time," exclaimed Ash, rising up again.

"Ash, I want to find Pikachu as much as you do, but like you said, we have to think about the champion first, and if Blazekin is to be believed, Pikachu is out in the woods somewhere, and relatively safe since nobody knows where it is," explained Serena carefully.

Ash looked like he wanted to argue, but a single glance at Serena's face convinced him otherwise. "So, what about the body guards we got arrested? Can't we interrogate them or something?" he suggested, moving on.

Clemont nodded. "That's one reason why I wanted to wait to go after AZ. They may provide some information that we don't have yet. If they don't it would still be easier to pursue the other two traitorous body guards than to try to track AZ. We know the body guards are somewhere around town."

"How do we know they'll tell the truth?" asked Sawyer.

"Why would they lie?" countered Clemont. "They're mercenaries. They shouldn't be loyal to anything but money. Their boss got them arrested, so they should carry some resentment, enough to oust him or her."

Serena nodded in agreement. "That makes sense. Should we go to the police station and ask officer Jenny about an interrogation, then?" she asked.

"What about them?" Ash asked, nodding towards Calem and the others.

"We came to the same conclusion," spoke Tierno, causing everyone to jump at his presence.

"Oh... cool," spoke Sawyer, trying to play off the surprise all of them felt at Tierno's sudden appearance.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "How long have you been standing there, Tierno?" he asked.

Tierno didn't answer. He turned to Serena. "We need to have that private talk now, Serena."


	13. Chapter 13: Tierno and the Traitor

"Serena, I don't think-"

"Relax, Clemont. I promised Tierno I would speak with him in town already," interrupted Serena.

Clemont frowned, as did Ash. Bonnie looked at the two trainers incredulously. "You two know this is Tierno, right? Can't we trust him?" she asked.

Tierno grimaced, acknowledging those around him. "You remember what happened right before you were taken, Bonnie. Their concern is... understandable. I'm trying to make amends, for everyone's sake. I don't expect them to immediately trust me."

"I do," spoke Sawyer suddenly. Everyone, even Tierno, turned to the green haired boy in shock. He grinned nervously at the sudden attention. "I mean, if I learned one thing out here, it's that nobody will trust you if you aren't willing to trust them." Thinking about his own statement, he whipped out his notebook and wrote the words down, confirming for Serena that he did indeed have his journal with him.

"You're right, Sawyer," agreed Serena after a pause. "Tierno, let's go talk." She returned her pokémon to indicate that she was ready to leave.

Tierno nodded gratefully to her. "Thanks, Serena. If you're ready, we can go now."

Serena agreed with the trainer and turned to her group of friends. "I won't be gone too long. I should be somewhere in town if something really important happens."

Ash sighed. "Alright. Just be careful, Serena. There's still two of those body guards out there somewhere," he cautioned.

For Clemont's part, he looked suspiciously at Tierno and appeared to wish to add something, but held his tongue, waving the two off instead. Bonnie gave the performer a hug and made her promise to come back as quickly as possible, while Sawyer simply nodded to the pair as they walked away. To Serena's surprise, Tierno didn't start heading for a more secluded part of the residential district, and instead made for the bustling noise of the commercial district. She wanted to ask him how private their talk was really supposed to be, but decided against it. The sun was high overhead as they arrived in town square once more. The raucous chaos of the morning wave of festivity had died down to a more organized chaos. As the pair crossed the bridge in the center of town, Serena took the time to look out to where the river came from. While several larger stores obscured her view, Serena could tell that the river easily stretched beyond the boundaries of the town. The water itself was fairly clear, and she obscurely remembered Eusine or Calem saying something about how Suicune's ceremony was more of a formality at this point than anything. Silently she hoped that Diantha had made it to the shrine at the mouth of the river. "Thinking about Diantha?" asked Tierno, following her gaze.

Serena nodded wordlessly. Tierno sighed. "Yeah, I'm worried about her too. Calem thinks we need to go after her, but frankly, I'm not so sure. Those two body guards that tried to attack her are almost definitely watching us, maybe even working out how to free their friends. I'm sure Calem will get his way, though. He has a habit of doing that." He broke off and started eyeing the various stands, disappointing himself with the lack of food stalls.

Bringing up Calem reminded Serena of Shauna's likening of her situation with Calem to Serena's own situation with Ash. "Why did Calem leave?" she asked suddenly and cautiously, asking more to learn about Shauna's history than the history of the man in question.

Tierno turned back to his friend. "After the Kalos League?" Serena nodded and the trainer shrugged. "He told us he was heading south to get stronger, and that he didn't know how long he'd be gone, but he promised he'd come back. Shauna wanted to go with him, but he left the same night he told us, before we could follow. If I'm being honest, I never believed him. Sure, we were all friends when we were younger, but he always had this look about him, like he was meant for something greater than whatever he was currently doing, the protagonist of a story that didn't exist. I always believed he had just finally decided to leave us behind and fulfill his full potential, saving the world or something. I wanted to be just like him when I started pokémon training," he spoke, a nostalgic look in his eyes.

Serena considered the information. "So he's always been the way he is now?"

Tierno started to nod, but ended up shrugging again. "Before he left, Shauna and he didn't flirt the way they do now. Calem wasn't nearly as open to that sort of thing back then. Otherwise, yeah, he's always been five steps ahead of the world. Why ask me this suddenly?" he asked with genuine curiosity, without his typical suspicious tone.

With a sigh, Serena decided to be candid. "I suppose I'm just trying to understand why Calem left when he knew how Shauna felt about him. It doesn't make sense to me."

Tierno looked away. "Calem's the one to ask about that, not me. I got over the whole thing rather quickly, while on the other hand, he broke Shauna's heart, and Trevor never forgave him for that. Even if he isn't consciously aware of it anymore, there was a time that Trevor hated Calem for what he did to Shauna. He was very protective of her when they were younger, even though she didn't need the help..." He stopped and turned back to Serena. "Sorry, I don't mean to bore you with our history."

Serena shook her head immediately. "Oh, no, I don't find it boring at all, Tierno! You're all my friends, and I enjoy learning more about my friends."

Tierno let out a small smile. "In that case, after Calem left, Trevor got more serious about his photography. He told me once that he wanted to do something that would impress everybody because of his own ability, something that would separate him from Calem. None of it bothered me. I wanted to be a dancer from the beginning, so that's just what I incorporated into my battle style. It just so happened to work as a great dodging mechanic. Shauna had a harder time. Until we all learned about performing, she felt like she had no direction in her life without Calem. I guess that's one reason she was super ecstatic that she was able to get you into performing." He paused once more. "That's the basic rundown of our history, anyways. Anything else?"

Serena decided to just take the shot. "One more thing, actually. Does Trevor..." she trailed off, and struggled to keep her nerve about her to ask the question she wanted to ask. She was surprised when Tierno answered for her.

"Yeah, he likes Shauna," spoke the dancer.

Serena stared at him in surprise. "He's been complaining about it since he yelled at you and Shauna in the woods." Tierno explained quickly. "You remember what I said about him resenting Calem? It was more like jealousy. Now that he's back, he's acting different again. With this whole case, he's been trying to solve everything himself, I guess to prove he's better than Calem to Shauna or something. You've seen what that's doing to him. Shauna has barely noticed, so I've been doing my best to support Trevor. I guess I've been getting carried away myself, but if I wasn't standing firmly with him, he'd have nobody. Of course he's still friendly with Shauna and Calem, but it's getting harder for him to hide the fact that he feels the need to be the hero here. It's just really hard to outshine Calem, going back to what I said before about the whole hero thing. Sometimes... I wish we could just go back to living in the same town, as four friends, before Calem left, especially before now. His flirting is really getting to Trevor."

It took a minute for the information to reach Serena. Suspicious as Trevor had acted, she had no idea that Trevor had bottled up such emotions, emotions she knew from first hand experience only grew more difficult to withhold with time. _I wonder if that's why he doesn't travel with her..._ "I always thought you three were really good friends..." she spoke quietly, barely over the noise of the festival.

"We are," stated Tierno quickly, backpedalling. "If we weren't, we wouldn't still be friends after everything we've been through. No matter what happens, no matter how jealous Trevor gets, no matter how long Calem disappears for, no matter how ignorant of Trevor Shauna gets, and no matter how much I talk about it to you, the four of us are going to be friends at the end of the day."

The emotional side of Serena's mind sympathized heavily with Tierno's story. "I'm glad to hear that, Tierno, really. I hope I and my friends can be even close to that level of friendship with you."

To Serena's surprise, Tierno didn't smile at the statement. Instead, he looked out at the river. "Yeah, me too. Actually, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about." He looked around. "Come on, let's go somewhere without people."

Serena's blood turned cold as her suspicions were realized. She had almost forgotten that Tierno had a purpose for talking to her. Without a word, she followed the larger boy through the mess of people. Before she could figure out where he could possibly be leading her that wouldn't contain people in the middle of a festival, Tierno had made a sharp turn and led her into the very same alleyway that Jessie and Eusine had confronted her in. The passing of a day hadn't removed a sense of dark foreboding from the location, or the chokingly bleak atmosphere. Tierno seemed to pick up on the lack of life in the alley, and turned back to Serena. "We should be alone here... are you alright?" Concern flashed in his eyes as he witnessed Serena's reaction to being in the alley once again.

With a clench of her fist, Serena regained her own wits. The last thing she needed to do right now was allow fear to claim her, to cause her to send the wrong message. "No, I'm alright, really. What did you want to talk about?" she asked, forcing a normal tone over her voice.

Tierno had developed an uncertain expression. He appeared almost as nervous as Serena, but he pressed forward as well. "Alright... here goes nothing. Listen, Serena. I know you remember the way I've been acting for the past few days has been out of line, towards both you and Ash. I'm sorry once again, really." Tierno appeared lost, unsure of how to continue.

Serena's mind drifted to their previous conversation. "Tierno, you told me that you were just trying to stick up for Trevor. I respect that. You have no need to be ashamed for standing up for your friend."

Tierno shook his head. "Maybe, but not at the expense of my other friends. That's not the entire truth, though. Of course I wanted to stand by Trevor, but you saw how I acted. I was trying just as hard to outdo Ash for the past two days, to prove that Trevor and I had the correct case while he didn't. I took things too far because, well... I was jealous of Ash." The name dangled in the air, demanding explanation but receiving none.

Serena knew what the answer to her question would be, but revealing that could make things much worse than they already were. "Why? Why were you jealous of Ash?" she asked with as much innocence as she could muster.

A frown contorted onto Tierno's face. He closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. "I was jealous of Ash because of all the attention you give him! I want you to give me the kind of attention he gives you because I really like you and want you to be more than my friend and travel with me!" His voice started as a shout and quickly devolved into a whimper as he continued to bare his feelings.

Despite partially expecting it, Tierno's confession still managed to leave Serena flabbergasted. The look on Tierno's face betrayed hope, the last thing Serena wanted to take away from him. She knew exactly what she needed to say, what would be necessary and proper to let him down, what would prevent Tierno from blaming Ash for what was her decision. These brilliant compositions of intelligent speech failed to appear as words from the performer's mouth. As the silence continued to stretch out past reasonable limits, Tierno sighed. "I know what you're going to say. Your silence says it for you," he muttered dejectedly.

Serena scrambled to pick up an angle to respond to Tierno from, anything that would deny him as gently as possible. _Just say no._ "No, you don't," she spoke. _Why would you say that?!_

Tierno tilted his head, the hope in his eyes burning a little brighter. "Does that mean..." he trailed off, or rather he spoke so softly that Serena could no longer hear him.

Serena took control of herself and shook her head. "No, it doesn't, Tierno. You're a very good friend. I... simply don't like you that way. I made a commitment months ago to travel with Ash and the others, and I will uphold that. I don't want to stop being your friend, but I can't accept that offer. I'm very sorry." _Better. Much better._ Serena praised herself.

Tierno lowered his head again, the hope burning pitifully away in his eyes. "I told you. I knew you would say that. Even from the first time I met you, I knew I was fighting an uphill battle against that trainer. I don't know why I'm a glutton for punishment. I just... couldn't not at least try to tell you how I feel."

"Tierno..." muttered Serena guiltily. She shook herself and mustered up some nerve. "Let me finish. All that being said, I think it's very brave of you to be willing to admit something like that to me. Most people wouldn't do that." Her mind drifted to two particular members of their group, one of them being her. "Even though I'm telling you no, if you keep putting yourself out there like this, you'll eventually find someone who says yes. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't want you to give up on... this sort of thing because of me. I don't want you to blame Ash, either. Blame me, if you have to blame somebody, but not him. I'll understand if you want to be mad at me." She stopped avoiding looking at the boy in front of her and stole a glance at him.

Tierno had looked up again. There was an old sadness that had developed in his eyes, the kind that only came with experience. "I can't stay mad at you, Serena. I've tried, believe me. I know it's not really Ash's fault, but I couldn't direct my frustration about all of this at you, so it got piled on top of my jealousy of him. I'll apologize to him again later." The trainer paused. "Do you really think this is brave?" he asked suddenly.

Serena nodded without hesitation. "Yes, definitely. Like I said, most people never have the courage to do what you just did. Being honest is one of the hardest things there is to do sometimes. That's why I don't want you to be afraid to do it again, with someone who can reciprocate your feelings for them better than I can."

"It means a lot to me to hear you say that," spoke Tierno. "It took a lot to convince me to say something. I wasn't going to do it at all until Calem got me to consider talking to you again. I won't give up because of this. You're right. I just have to keep moving forwards. We can still be friends, right?" he asked.

Serena smiled. "Of course. You're a good friend, Tierno, and a great dancer. I never want to not be friends with you, Shauna, or any of the others. You all helped me find a goal, and this journey wouldn't have been the same without you all."

A grateful smile spawned on Tierno's face. "That's good to hear. I don't blame Ash, to be clear, but I want to know: do you like him the way I like you?"

Fear seized Serena once more, switching from the dancer to the performer as she was placed on the spot. _I feel so bad for having to tell him no... he deserves to know where my true feelings lie. If I can't give him what he wants, I can give him the truth._ "Tierno, I started my journey because of Ash. He's been my inspiration from the beginning, someone who's always there to pick me up when I'm down, and even if he doesn't know it, I love him for it." Saying the word took most of Serena's strength. There were a million ways that she could describe her feelings for Ash, but a million words wouldn't do her feelings justice, so she let what she had said remain suspended in the air.

Tierno sighed. A small rueful smile appeared on his face. "Well, I suppose I knew all that, but it didn't stop my stupid brain from falling for you. I guess the timing isn't the best, either. "

Serena shook her head. "I don't think the timing on these things matters, Tierno. What does matter is that you said something, and that you put yourself out there. Nobody can fault you for that."

Tierno looked away. "Well, that's good to hear. Thinking about it, I probably would have done everything the same even knowing this would happen. You know me, stubborn as a stantler." Serena allowed herself a giggle, and Tierno smiled. "When are you going to say something to Ash?" he asked curiously.

Serena had been trying to answer that very question for a very long time, and yet a solution still evaded her. "I... don't know. I know what I said about timing, but I'm worried that if he doesn't feel the same, then it will ruin our friendship and I'll lose him again." It was strange to Serena, baring her soul to the person she would have trusted the least with this information a few hours ago.

Tierno adopted a thoughtful look. "If you want my opinion, I think you should just speak to him sooner rather than later. I've seen how leaving things unsaid between people can affect them over time through Shauna and Trevor, and I wouldn't wish that upon any of my friends. The Kalos League isn't too far away, and I'd be willing to bet that you haven't exactly made plans to follow him, or if you have, he doesn't know about them. Am I wrong?"

"No..." muttered Serena. She had run through so many scenarios of what happened to their group after the Kalos League that she had become nearly certain that she couldn't be surprised. "I want to at least wait until after we finish our business here. He doesn't need to have my problems foisted onto him when he's concerned with the criminal and Pikachu."

Tierno broke out into a grin. "If there's one thing I've learned from watching people like Ash and Calem, it's that they never give up once they get their minds set on something. That criminal doesn't stand a chance against their combined might. If that's what you want to do, I support you fully. If I can't be happy together with you, Serena, then I want to make sure you're at least happy with who you want to be happy with." he reassured.

Serena let slip a small smile. "True. Very true. I'm guessing that you don't want anything we've said to leave this alley?" she presumed.

Tierno nodded. "Yeah. Also, one favor, if you don't mind," he requested.

Serena felt compelled to help her friend in any way she could after what she had been forced to say to him. "Of course. Name it," she insisted.

Tierno's look added a mischievous element to its projection. "Do me a favor and tell Ash when you tell him how you feel that I fully support the two of you. I'd do it in person, but, honestly, I think it would sound better coming from you."

Tierno's words touched Serena. It amazed her how selfless he could be in the face of such major disappointment. "I promise to do that, Tierno. You can count on me."

"Good," responded Tierno. "I'm glad. And... thanks for hearing me out, Serena. I won't lie and say I don't wish things had turned out differently, but I'm glad we're still friends."

Serena comfortingly placed a hand on Tierno's shoulder and rested it there for a brief moment. The action would have been unthinkable hours ago, and the boy flinched at the touch, surprised but relieved and elated just as quickly. "No matter what, we're friends," she agreed before releasing the trainer. "I'll bet the others are wondering where we've been. We should get back to them."

Without a word, Tierno nodded with a sad smile on his face and took the lead as the two exited the alley, for what Serena hoped would be the final time. She made small talk with her friend as they walked back through town towards the group, discussing everything from the case to the everyday occurrences on their travels that they found interesting. While Serena was extremely relieved to know for perhaps the first time where exactly she and Tierno stood together, she couldn't shake his advice to speak with Ash sooner rather than later out of her head. The same distinct urge to allow her largest secret to flow freely into the world welled up in her, and she forced it down. Half of her group knowing how she felt wasn't the same as Ash knowing how she felt, as much as she contradicted herself. _Maybe the best time to act really is after this whole case is over..._ The thought continued to stew in her mind as the two once again saw the pokémon center in their line of sight. What they also saw, unfortunately, was another stand off. Even worse, Bonnie appeared to have tried to stop everyone from fighting in Serena's place, and was unsuccessfully trying to keep Trevor and Ash from speaking angrily with each other. Tierno exchanged a look with the performer. "Looks like we missed something. I guess you're gonna have to break them up again."

Serena nodded wordlessly and made her way in between Ash, Trevor, and their respective groups. "What's so important that you all had to start arguing again the second I step out for a minute, huh?" she asked nobody in particular. After what had happened with Tierno, Serena realized that she had some excess confidence in herself that needed to be taken advantage of.

As soon as everyone noticed her presence, the road immediately silenced. Any arguing that had been happening stopped. At first, Serena thought that she had somehow succeeded immediately, but the way that everyone was staring at her told another story. Clemont was scrutinizing her curiously, like he had somehow forgotten what she looked like. Bonnie was staring at her with the same fire in her eyes that she normally reserved for watching pokémon battles. Trevor was giving her a look of open distrust, as was Eusine. Calem was unreadable behind his shades, while Shauna gave her an almost mournful stare. Sawyer and Tierno just appeared confused. Ash was the only person not looking at Serena, focusing all of his attention instead on Trevor. "What?" she finally asked, unable to take everyone staring at her without telling her why.

Calem was the first to break the uncomfortable silence. "Serena, would you mind if I had a shot at speaking to you privately?" he requested with an even tone.

Serena immediately turned away to prevent anyone from seeing her face flush red, considering what had happened when Tierno had asked her the same question. "I... well..." she stammered.

Ash stepped up to stand beside Serena. "There's no need for that. We've had enough private conversations here for one day. Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, let's get out of here. We can keep looking for the real culprit somewhere else," he suggested forcefully.

"You and I both know this is necessary, Ash," countered Trevor. "This will be the last time, then you may do what you please." There was a sort of finality in his tone that bothered Serena.

The performer turned to Tierno for explanation, but he just shrugged, clearly as confused as she was. "We'll keep it quick, Serena," promised Calem.

Serena looked up to face the people in front of her. "I'm not going anywhere until someone explains to me what happened while I was gone." She folded her arms and stood up a little straighter.

Calem sighed and was about to speak when Eusine interrupted. "Child, if you're innocent then you have nothing to be suspicious about. Calem just has a question or two for you," he explained with a benign tone that reeked of disingenuity.

The word innocent piqued Serena's interest. "What do you mean, innocent? You're not seriously suggesting-"

"Hold on," interrupted Calem. "I want to speak with you alone, Serena, to ensure that we don't start a fight in the streets over this. I personally promise you that this will be a painless process."

"There doesn't need to be a process!" argued Ash. "There's no way she isn't innocent!"

"Unless you can prove that to me right now, I think it's in all of our best interests that you let me handle this, Ash," responded Calem coolly.

Ash gritted his teeth and said nothing. Calem took this as a green light and motioned to Serena. "Come on, Serena. I know a cool spot we can go to." He separated himself from his group and indicated that she follow him.

Deciding to follow Calem seemed like a terrible idea, but Serena didn't see that she could make a different choice without causing another fight. She focused on Clemont, who took their moment of eye contact to step forward and grip her arm tightly, pulling her in close to whisper quietly to her, "Serena, I'm not certain of what's about to happen, but I think it would benefit you to say whatever you feel the need to say to Ash right now. Our situation is about to become... complicated," he warned.

Serena stared at the inventor in shock. "Clemont..." she barely whispered. "What happened while I was gone?"

Clemont's eyes darted around. "Calem will explain everything. I can't keep talking like this, it's too suspicious." Serena flited her gaze around to see that Trevor, Calem and Eusine were staring at them suspiciously. "Just say something to Ash, go along with Calem and know that we have your back," he instructed before letting her go and moving over to Bonnie to prevent her from yelling something at Serena, insisting that he could handle things.

Tearing her gaze away from Clemont, Serena realized that she and Ash were staring at each other. Despite Tierno's encouragement and Clemont's warning, words were again failing Serena as she struggled to think of what to say for the suddenly momentous occasion of her talking to Calem. Ash appeared just as conflicted as she was. Calem cleared his throat loudly, and Serena realized that she needed to say something quickly or risk saying nothing at all. "Ash," she started, hoping that whatever she said next would make sense. "After I'm done with Calem, I want to speak with you next," she requested quietly.

Of all things, Ash clearly wasn't expecting to be the next contestant on Serena's game of pulling people out of the group for a chat, but he nodded nonetheless. "Sure. I'll be waiting here for you, Serena." He smiled his personal smile at Serena, and she reciprocated.

 _It wasn't exactly a confession, but it's gonna have to do._ Tierno actually gave her a small thumbs up when she looked at him, and she smiled in return. Clemont appeared upset at her resolution, but she didn't have time to consider the matter. Before anybody could complain, Serena found herself moving after Calem, allowing him to lead her back into the heart of the town.

Unlike Tierno, Calem made no efforts at small talk or anything of the sort as they weaved between houses and stores through the festival. The serious tone of the encounter had stuck with Serena, and she was reluctant to even ask Calem where they were going as he paced with intense purpose through the streets. As they continued to turn what seemed like random corner after random corner, the events back in front of the pokémon center started to lose their impact and curiosity got the best of her. "Calem, where are we going?" she asked.

Calem turned around and started walking backwards, forcing several people to shoot him angry looks while they moved to avoid him. "I know a really nice café we can go to. We'll discuss things there," he spoke, his friendly tone apparently back.

Wanting to seize the opportunity for further questioning, Serena opened her mouth to continue speaking, but Calem had turned around again before she could get a word out, displaying his unwillingness to speak until he was ready. Serena sighed and adjusted her bag. She hoped her money was still in the pink storage device, since she had only been searching for her poké balls and her clean clothes earlier. Thinking about it, Serena realized that she actually hadn't bothered to organize or investigate her bag since recovering it, unusual for her. She made a mental note to do that as soon as possible. With nothing else to occupy her mind, Serena inevitably began to think about Ash. Her request of him hadn't been anything like the confession Clemont had implied. In fact, she could very easily say that she had wanted to talk to Ash about any number of things when the time came. Serena would have all but confirmed doing that in her mind were it not for her conversations with Shauna and Tierno earlier that day. Both of them had discussed the negative effects that waiting had wrought upon them. Both of them in some way were hurt by waiting. Tierno had also been hurt by speaking, but he had either taken it very well or hidden the pain excellently. The side of Serena that constantly begged to speak to Ash on the matter was growing louder and louder. She clutched her ribbon.

 _I told Tierno I was going to wait for the right time. I told Clemont I was going to wait for the right time. Is now the right time, when his Pikachu is still missing and there's a criminal with body guards running around? It doesn't seem right. Maybe instead I could just test the waters. Approach the topic without directly mentioning it. But this is Ash we're thinking about. He's way too dense for something like that to work. The only person who told me we should wait until we've finished here besides me is Ash. Maybe I am just trying to force something that shouldn't be forced. That decides it. I'm not going to confess to Ash, not yet. I'm going to at least wait until I find Pikachu, and I'll talk to him about Pikachu and how to find it when I see him again. I can't spill my feelings just because things are tense and Tierno spilled his feelings. I hope Tierno is alright. He seemed fine, but I know what bottling emotions is like. I just hope I let him down softly enough._

Serena was so utterly lost in her thoughts that she actually bumped into Calem when he stopped moving. Serena apologized quickly with flushed cheeks, while Calem waved it off nonchalantly. Looking up, Serena noticed that they were standing in front of a rather fashionable café right on the edge of the commercial district, almost near the border of the town. The café featured an open patio with several tables for patrons to sit at, while glass doors leading into the café revealed similar tables on the inside. Serena frowned. "Calem, I'm not sure how much money I have on me," she admitted.

Calem turned to his companion and smiled. "Don't worry about it, it's on me. Come on, I want to sit outside before it fills up."

The claim confused Serena, as there were only a few patrons around the café, but she complied anyways, taking a seat at the edge of the patio, opening up to the empty path out of town. The view of the road morphing from concrete to dirt and homes to trees had a sort of intriguing allure to it. Calem pointed to the view. "That's why I love this place. There's nothing more interesting than the interaction between nature and people, don't you think?"

A thought struck Serena. "Calem, how do you know this town so well? I mean, you and officer Jenny seem to know each other quite well, and you said you love this place like you frequent it," she pointed out.

Calem raised his glasses up his face to give Serena a wink. "Sharp observation. I visit this place for the Suicune festival every year. It's like a tradition of mine at this point, so I guess I know the area pretty well. This is the first year they asked me to participate in the festivities though."

 _If you have time to come up here every year, why did you never visit Shauna and the others?_ Serena silently asked herself. Somehow, she figured that asking that question wouldn't go over well with Calem. Instead, she nodded politely. "That's really cool, Calem. I guess you and Eusine have something in common, then. He told me he visits the town every year as well."

"Well, not quite," contradicted Calem. "Eusine has been going to this town every year for more years than you and I have been alive combined. Maybe it's all the exercise chasing Suicune, but he's way older than he lets on. I didn't even realize it myself until he told me."

Silence took over the table. When the time came to order drinks, Serena requested water, in spite of Calem's insistence that she could get whatever she wanted. For his part, Calem ordered some fancy drink with so many unnamable berries in it that Serena almost mistook it for some sort of medicine. When they received their drinks, Calem finally spoke again. "I'll get to the point, Serena. While you were gone, Jenny was interrogating the body guards we got arrested. In short, they named you as the person who hired them almost immediately, begging to be let off easy."

While Serena's mind reeled, her mouth decided to work, growing more fervent and strained as it continued to speak. "That's impossible. There's no way I would hire those two, or do anything even close to the terrible things that the criminal did. Why would I steal my own pokémon? Why would I kidnap my own friend and knock myself out in the process? I don't own a blazekin! I have nothing against the champion! Why would I-"

"Hey, hey, hey, Serena, relax!" insisted Calem. The few patrons who were in the café were giving the two strange looks, but turned away when Calem gave them a friendly wave. "Look, I didn't say that you did anything wrong, I just said that the thugs pointed to you as the mastermind we're looking for. I'm not taking a side in this matter. It's why I agreed to be the one to talk to you. I want to get to the facts, which are more important than what they have to say. With any fortune, this will alleviate Trevor and Jenny's suspicions, and we can find a criminal that isn't one of us for once. All you have to do is convince me that the body guard's word is hogwash." As he spoke, Calem ran his finger along the edge of his glass holding his drink absentmindedly. While his body wasn't focused, Serena could see in his eyes an extremely serious nature that she didn't know the normally laid-back Calem had in him.

Serena took a sip of her water to ease her mind and sighed to herself. "So... since this is the only way to prove my innocence, what do you want me to tell you?" she asked.

Calem took a sip of his exotic drink and stared at his companion, the same glint in his eyes that Serena had noticed in him while he was battling. "Just tell me what you've been doing for the past three days. As long as you don't lie, there shouldn't be any problems, and we can get back to the real case after I ask a few questions. Deal?" he held out a hand.

 _Just be honest. You can do this. No reason to be nervous. It's just Calem._ "Deal," agreed Serena, shaking his hand.

With a grin, Calem motioned for Serena to go ahead. Taking a deep breath, Serena plunged into the roller coaster that was the last three days. "Well, the first day of the festival was mostly taken up by travelling from Gloire City, where they held the Master Class showcase, to Snowbelle City, where Ash is going to battle for his eighth gym badge. We were well on our way when we met you on the road, Calem. You remember that you battled Ash, and then you convinced us to visit the Suicune Festival in Cinder Town afterwards, with the promise of the champion Diantha making an appearance. Thinking about it, you're the only reason we were in town in the first place. On the way there, we ran into Shauna, who joined us. When we got to the festival, we also met with Trevor and Tierno, more friends of ours. We all split up to explore the festival before the exhibition battle the champion was going to participate in. I ended up separated from the others and lost in the forest. That was the first time I met AZ. He-"

"Hold on," spoke Calem, stopping the testimony. "You met AZ in the woods before the cops found him? What was he doing?"

"Well, besides sneaking up on me, not much," Serena admitted. "He just warned me to leave the festival as soon as possible and then disappeared." The memory still made her uncomfortable.

Calem frowned, pulled out a pencil and paper from his pockets, and took a note down. "Alright. Go on."

Serena nodded. "Well, after that, I met Eusine. He was trying to read people's fortunes for money. Ash showed up before I could spend too much time talking to him, and we went to the exhibition match together. We watched your battle, and then we wound up chasing Shauna through the streets as she chased one of the body guards whom she thought knew where you were, which turned out to be true. The body guards, or the thugs, to be more accurate, were rude, but Diantha stepped in and let us have dinner with her and you. After that, she gave us a hotel room for the evening. We used the room, and I fell asleep for the night in that room until around midnight, when I woke up to... get some water." Calem raised his eyebrows at Serena's pause but didn't interrupt her. She continued, trying to sound more confident. "I realized Ash was gone and I went downstairs to try to find him, which I did. That was about when you showed up again. After you left, we spoke with Shauna and went back to bed for the night. We were...awoken later that night by a mega blazekin. It attacked us, took Pikachu and my bag, and disappeared. Ash and I tried to chase it, but I cut my hands trying to get down a tree, and we didn't find anything. We were all extremely upset, but we couldn't do anything about it because all the police were busy with the Diantha attack, although we didn't know that at the time. We got a new room from the hotel and resolved to solve things in the morning. I found out that I had taken out a spare clothing change and my sylveon from my bag by pure chance when I went back with Ash to our ruined room to search it. In the morning, we set out for the police station, and that's where we met with you again. Everything after that you were present for, if I'm not mistaken. Is that good enough?"

Calem scribbled something onto his paper and looked up. "More or less, yes. Spike or Shauna was around you when I wasn't, so I have credible testimony for anything I didn't see." He turned back to his paper and continued scribbling.

"So does that prove I'm innocent?" Serena asked eagerly.

"Well, there's a few problems," admitted Calem. He drove his pencil into the paper, forming a dark line that cut it in half length wise. "On one hand, you were almost always seen by someone else at all times, and when you weren't, it wasn't for a long enough time for you to pull off anything elaborate. In short, you didn't do anything wrong while you were here. Our problem is that the thugs also claimed that you hired them well over a month in advance, which is in line with Kathi Lee's hiring process, by her own statement, not to mention that there are some things you avoided telling me about what you've been up to, regarding time slots that would allow you to network with the traitorous body guards, particularly your midnight excursion the night of the assault."

Serena couldn't help but let her mouth hang open, focusing on the first claim. "Are you trying to say that I planned all of this months in advance?! That makes even less sense than the claim that I did it while I was here! I didn't know this town existed four days ago, so how could I plan anything involving this town?"

Calem held up a hand to indicate that Serena should calm down. She obeyed reluctantly. "I know it sounds ridiculous. The only way to prove something like that is with evidence. Have you checked your bag to make sure you got everything back, Serena?" he asked.

As much as it sounded like a loaded question, Serena responded with a shake of her head. "No. I only made sure I had my pokémon and a fresh set of clothes in my bag. I haven't checked on everything else. Why?"

With a sigh, Calem held up Serena's town map. "Because the police found this in the house where Bonnie was being held after you excused yourself. They didn't know it was yours, and it wasn't in your bag, so they brought it to the station. While it was there, they went into the search history of the device, and, unfortunately, they found multiple searches of places that the champion was known to appear, as well as research into, to put it bluntly, the more lawless part of the region, away from the main towns. The sort of place where you could hire people like those thugs. I didn't know that when I identified it as yours, of course, but it was enough for them to want to question you."

"That can't be right," denied Serena. "There's no way I did any research on those parts of the region. It's got nothing to do with Ash's journey or mine, and I know I didn't search anything like that on the town map."

"Do you have any way of proving that?" challenged Calem.

For a moment, Serena thought she didn't, when she suddenly remembered what she had been doing on the way into town. "Yes! Clemont was trying to fix my town map a few days ago, and he had to go into the source code of the device. While he was there, he accidentally saw my search history. He can vouch for me," she asserted.

Calem tilted his head. "I suppose he could, if he hadn't tried to already. We approached him about this issue, and he essentially said what you just said. When we asked him what he saw in the history, though, he refused to give us a direct answer, and instead just asserted that what we had found had not been there when he was working with your town map. Any idea why?"

The real reason was obvious to Serena, but she wasn't completely certain that she wanted to reveal it. On the other hand, she definitely didn't want to go to prison, so she decided to trust Calem. "Honestly, it was because he found out that I had been doing research on things Ash would enjoy, and I made him promise not to tell anyone about it," she admitted.

"Because of your crush?" presumed Calem.

Serena shot straight up in her seat, nearly spitting out her water. "Wha- how did you-"

A smirk developed on Calem's face. "I think the better question would be who besides Ash doesn't know about it at this point. Even Sawyer noticed it, and he's only met with you a few times, from what I've garnered."

Serena put her head in her hands. "Am I really that obvious?" she asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

Calem let out a small smirk. "Well, not as obvious as Sunshine, but pretty close. I'm honestly more impressed with the fact that Ash hasn't noticed anything, but I digress. Clemont will hopefully speak for you if you tell him that it's alright, so let's move on for the moment. There's another thing the body guards claimed that need to be cleared up."

Serena steeled herself to deny anything the thugs tried to pass off as fact. "Alright. I'm ready," she spoke.

In response, Calem pushed his paper and pencil forward. Serena stared at it. The notes Calem had been taking filled up one side of the paper he had divided, a nearly meaningless mess of scribbles that Serena could barely comprehend. "Sign this, if you would," he ordered.

Picking up the pencil, Serena signed the paper. "Why did you need me to sign this again?" she asked. The last time she could even remember signing anything besides her autograph for officer Jenny was when she was registering to be a performer.

Calem didn't respond, instead taking the paper and scrutinizing the handwriting carefully. He stared a hole through it for an unusually long time before withdrawing another piece of paper and comparing the two. He finally sighed and held out his new paper for Serena to see. Serena stared at the paper, trying to make sense of what appeared to be a complicated set of directions for carrying out a crime, one Serena only barely recognized as the ones committed by the body guards over the past several days. The small text filled the page nearly completely, detailing everything from hiring procedure and payment to the numerous levels of plans and back up plans that twisted around each other and seemed to account for every possible outcome. It was far beyond anything could think of or understand, and she informed Calem of such. Calem just pointed to the bottom of the page. Serena squinted and stared more closely at the tiny signature occupying the bottom right of the page, and she gasped as she recognized her own name and signature. "That's not possible," she insisted with as much confidence as she could while her body shook like it was standing in a blizzard.

"As much as I would love to agree with you, Serena, there's very little I can do to remedy this situation." Calem spoke apologetically. "Jenny already verified the signature using the autograph you gave her, but I wanted to see it for myself. I know you deny the easy explanation that you sent this letter to the body guards, but I have a difficult time buying the idea that they would bother to forge your signature specifically this far in advance. I really wish we had more to go off of, but as it stands, everything we have seems to, well, point at you, unfortunately."

Serena shook her head. "That can't be right. There's no way I planned all of this in advance. Calem, you have to believe me on this. I've just been travelling with Ash and the others for the past few months. I would never do any of these things for any reason. Nobody could possibly be willing to buy this story," she asserted.

"Maybe yes, maybe no," he responded ominously. "Let's go down the list, excluding us, of course. Officer Jenny and Kathi Lee will follow any evidence they find, so they'll both advocate against you with this information. Trevor will advocate against you because he's desperate to prove that he's the hero who caught the bad guy in this situation. He was the one who found your town map, you know. That's three to none. Sawyer won't advocate for you-"

"Yes he will!" interrupted Serena. "Sawyer is a good person, and we're friends!" she spoke indignantly.

"Good enough for him to take the fall for you?" responded Calem evenly. "If you're cleared of suspicion, he becomes the prime suspect again, besides AZ of course. Do you think he'd do that for you just because you're his friend?" he challenged.

 _Maybe not..._ Serena admitted to herself privately. "I don't know," she spoke aloud.

Calem crossed his arms. "Hmm. I'll put him in the maybe column, to be fair. Next is Shauna, who is another question mark. You two are close, though, so I'll say she'll be the first one to advocate for you. Next up is Bonnie, who will obviously support you, but I'm not sure how credible her support will be, considering her age. In any case, we have three nays, two yeas, and a maybe. Clemont will be a yea for you, as will Ash, obviously. Eusine will be a nay. That man really doesn't like you. This leaves us at an impasse."

"What about team rocket?" Serena pointed out. "Where would you say they fall?"

"You didn't notice?" Calem asked, surprised. Serena shook her head with confusion and Calem frowned. "Well, they ditched our merry band, frankly as I expected. Who knows where they are right now, other than not here."

Serena let the news sink in. Like Calem, she had expected team rocket to flee at the first opportunity, but the fact that she hadn't even noticed them leave bothered her. For a short time, she had surprised herself by actually tolerating their company, at least as far as James went. She was more than happy to hear that Jessie was gone. "Alright. That just leaves you and Sawyer, and since Sawyer isn't here, what do you believe? I know what you said, but you also told me you were evaluating the case neutrally. What's your opinion?" she questioned.

Calem was silent for a while. He pulled his glasses off his head and started to fiddle with them. He put them back on his head and started sipping his drink. Serena couldn't tell if he was actually pondering the issue or if he was just trying to make her even more nervous than she already was. After eternity, during which several people entered and left the café, Calem decided to speak again. "I think you're telling the truth, Serena. I don't really think you've done anything wrong." Serena started to smile, and his gaze hardened. "However," he continued. "I can't stop what happens next. While I believe you, there isn't anything you can show me that directly contradicts the evidence we've been given, particularly these letters. If there is, please enlighten me, and I'll gladly prevent your arrest, but as things stand, you're the most likely suspect, and justice has to be done."

Serena reeled. The world felt like it was being swept out from under her. Calem's gaze softened. "This can't be right," muttered Serena. "The body guards are lying. I know I didn't do anything wrong. Ask Ash, ask Clemont, ask Bonnie! They know I would never do anything like this!"

Calem looked away for a moment. "Like I said, I believe you, Serena, but you need to understand your position. The police are still looking for AZ, the person whom you've had the most contact with out of all of us since we caught the two body guards. Anyone else you try to name who would defend you is likely to be suspected as an accomplice. There isn't a good way out of this, frankly, but the least you could do is spare your friends from being considered criminals as well."

Serena stood up angrily. "What am I supposed to do, then, just accept the fact that I'm being wrongfully accused and let you and the others arrest me for terrible crimes I didn't commit? I'm not going to stand for these... threats against me and my friends. Calem, you know this is wrong. Why won't you help me explain to them that I'm innocent?"

To Serena's dismay, Calem shrugged. "My priority is Sunshine, Serena. I really want to help you, but if you can't show me something that proves you're innocent before the police get here, then I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you. You can run away, I suppose, but I think you know you wouldn't get very far." He sipped his drink. "So, one more shot. Words don't matter nearly as much as proof, so show me something that counters what we have in front of us, because right now everything points to you, from the town map showing you've been researching this to the thugs calling you out to the papers having your signature on them. I know we don't know why, or really how, but that's something for a court to decide, not us." He trailed off, and Serena paled.

 _There has to be something I can use as proof that I wouldn't betray the champion, or carry out the acts that Calem's telling me I committed. How am I supposed to prove I didn't hire thugs who have papers with my signature on it..._ Serena picked up the paper containing the instructions and her signature. She read it over carefully, hoping desperately that there was something within it she could use. Calem watched her with mild interest. Serena didn't have time to be unnerved by how calmly Calem was treating something so potentially life-ruining for her. Her eye paused on one of the sentences. "Hold on... it says here that the compensation for this job is more money than I've ever seen in my life. How could I possibly get that much money?" she asked out loud, grasping at straws.

The unfeeling Calem shrugged again. "For all we know, you were lying to them about paying them. Serena, I know you want to find a way out of this, but I'm telling you, having reviewed everything myself, there's no way to contradict the evidence against you yet. If you're innocent, then I promise you I won't stop until we find the truth. Just remember: if you talk to anybody, then they'll be thrown in just as suspicious a light as you."

Serena looked down. Her body was shutting down on her, trying to block out the words it was hearing. "This has to be wrong. There must be a mistake somewhere," she insisted to herself.

"There isn't a mistake," responded Calem. "Just do what I'm telling you to do and be quiet when they come for you. I didn't want it to come to this, I don't know why they targeted you if that is in fact what's happening here, and I want to keep the damage to our group to a minimum."

Serena found the cognition to stare at Eusine with harried eyes. "If I say nothing, Ash will be safe, and you promise me that you'll find out the truth, that I'm innocent? You'll prove that the papers were faked?" she asked.

"You have my word that I will find the truth. As things stand, the truth is that you hired the people who committed the crime," answered Calem.

The sound of a person approaching reached Serena's ears. She didn't dare turn to see who it was. Calem saw the approaching person, smiled warmly, and leaned in close to Serena. He whispered in her ear as the person approached, a small pokémon at her side. "Remember, whether Ash suffers for what you did or not is up to you." He drew his head away and waved lazily at the person approaching behind Serena.

"Serena," came officer Jenny's unmistakable voice from behind the performer.

In spite of the tears starting to form in her eyes, against the lack of proper functioning of Serena's mind to process the accusations suddenly foisted upon her, and regardless of her inability to find the proper way to defend herself, Serena turned. Officer Jenny stood behind the trainer, Arf at her side. She appeared slightly confused at the dismal state Serena was in, and she raised an eyebrow at him. "I couldn't find any proof that she didn't hire those thugs," spoke Calem.

That was it. Serena's fate was sealed in minutes and she barely had a say in the outcome because her signature appeared on a piece of paper she had never seen before in her life. Jenny actually didn't appear totally comfortable with the scene in general, but she nonetheless placed a commanding hand on Serena's shoulder. "In that case, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me, Serena."


	14. Chapter 14: The Shortest Chapter

The forest was enormous, far too big to have any hope of finding familiar landmarks that could lead back into town. The calm flow of the river wasn't nearly enough to soothe the pokémon's worries. While following the river was the only clear path that could lead to home, it also made hearing more difficult with its soft gurgling. This was cripplingly unacceptable to the pokémon, especially knowing that it was likely still being pursued. Pikachu lifted its ears to sense its environment. A few bird pokémon were chattering in the trees, while various grass types like oddish and budew scampered about through the undergrowth, just outside of vision. Accustomed to travelling in a group, Pikachu had been unprepared when it first woke up to detect so many pokémon in the nearby vicinity to it, and had to adapt its hearing quickly to being among wild pokémon alone again. Deciding that the area was free from its pursuer for the moment, Pikachu sent out a message with its electricity, hoping that Dedenne would pick up on the electric signals. While waiting for a response, the memory of its kidnapping sent a shudder through the electric type's body.

It had woken up from being knocked out in a few punches by Mega Blazekin in midair, still held in that pokémon's grip. Instinctively, it released a thunderbolt, which had surprised the pokémon enough to cause it to drop the yellow mouse. Mega Blazekin rapidly grew smaller as Pikachu tumbled through the air, the larger pokémon crying out in anger and clutching its arm. Pikachu had braced itself to slam into the forest floor, and was completely surprised when it made a splash and was engulfed by water. The electric type realized it must be in a river by the way the current dragged the small pokémon with it. With considerable effort for its fatigue, Pikachu was able to force its head to breach the surface of the water, and it gasped for air. Mega Blazekin had landed at the edge of the river, and was searching the portion it had jumped over intently for its query. Realizing that Mega Blazekin would figure out where it had drifted to, Pikachu started to paddle valiantly with the current, trying to swim away before its kidnapper saw where it had gone. The plan was great, and Pikachu was so absorbed in getting away that it failed to notice that it was swimming towards a waterfall until the sound of pounding water started to override Mega Blazekin's angry yells over the escape of its prey. By then, it was too late, and Pikachu went over the waterfall, unable to tell how far it was going to fall in the darkness. The next thing Pikachu knew, it was resting on a grassy riverbank, completely soaked but otherwise unharmed. Unable to tell where it was or how it had avoided drowning, Pikachu had resolved to try to make its way back up the river in hope of finding its trainer and its friends again, surviving on water from the river and local berries.

The memory of the past several days of travelling steeled Pikachu's resolve to see its friends again, and it continued forward, having unfortunately received nothing from Dedenne. This resolve quickly faded into weariness as every tree looked exactly the same and the river remained unchanging for what felt like decades. It was at the point where Pikachu was wondering if had somehow chosen the wrong direction to travel in that its ears finally picked up the unmistakable sound of the waterfall that had claimed its consciousness a few days ago. Emboldened, Pikachu sprang forward, following the river as it curved to reveal a medium sized waterfall, strong and pulsing with more life than was reasonable for the river that spawned it. While Pikachu remembered the river flowing strongly above the waterfall, the river hadn't flowed nearly as fast at Pikachu's current level. As Pikachu started forwards to try and find a way to climb the imposing cliff in front of it, it suddenly froze at it noticed that a very large man was standing at the base of the waterfall, filling a flask with water. He was muttering something to himself, something Pikachu couldn't hear over the noise of the waterfall. While the pokémon's first instinct was to hide at the sight of a stranger, something about the man felt strangely... comforting to the pokémon, like it could approach the man without need for concern. Pikachu decided to give in to this feeling and get help from the man. As it approached, the man looked up from his work, long white hair, a green scarf and a red beanie covering most of his face. He rose to his full height, revealing his much larger than normal size and the tattered clothing that he wore to the pokémon. "Have you been drinking the water, little one?" he asked with a gently rumbling voice.

Pikachu looked at the river and nodded quietly to the large man. He swept a hand out over river. Pikachu noticed that he was nearly a fifth of the size of the waterfall. "This water is blessed by Suicune every year to remove toxins from it, and yet you and I are able to drink it just fine. The water here has been pristine for many years, and yet Suicune persists in blessing the river, year after year, with a large ceremony, no less." He paused, looking out on the river. "I wonder if pokémon have... compulsions, the way people do. Suicune has the need to return to this river every year, an insatiable itch that it has to scratch to feel normal. Humans have to participate in violence and love in varying amounts to feel normal. They can have both, but they cannot have neither, and if they do, they have to be closely associated with someone or something that is, to satiate that itch. Do you have an itch, little pikachu?" His gaze seemed to pierce right through the pokémon.

Absolutely nothing that the man said made any sense to Pikachu. It tried to explain its need to the man. "Pikachu pika pika... pika pikachu!" It exclaimed quickly.

The man sighed. "It would seem your itch is the need to be around your trainer, to return to him." He scrutinized Pikachu more closely, and his frown deepened. Pikachu suddenly felt fear coursing through it, and it shrank a bit under the man's gaze. "You belong to Ash, don't you?" he asked with noticeable discomfort.

At the sound of its trainer's name, Pikachu forgot its inhibitions and nodded ecstatically. "Pikachu pika!"

"It would seem that fate refuses to allow me to remove myself from these affairs then. Just keep following this river, little pikachu. You will find your trainer again," he promised.

Turning, the man started to leave the river bank and the waterfall. Pikachu looked up at the large wall of water in front of it. Climbing was going to be very difficult, if even possible, and the pokémon didn't know the area well enough to find a way around the cliff. The man leaving Pikachu to fend for itself was the only option. Pikachu scampered in front of the man. "Pika pika! Pikachu pikachu pika!"

He paused to consider the yellow mouse. "You want my help, do you?" Pikachu nodded empathetically, and the man turned his gaze to the sky. He stared for a long while, and then he let out a large sigh, one Pikachu could feel even from its spot on the ground. "Do not hate me for walking the only path left, my friend. There is no honor in rebelling against what cannot be avoided."

* * *

"What do you think you're saying?! She's your friend too, isn't she?!" Ash's yell rang out on the nearly empty street, a testament to how abandoned it had become since the group had decided to occupy it.

"I've made myself quite clear. We have physical evidence that she was involved, testimony from the people she hired, and, above all, evidence from her town map that shows her research on the matter. I don't know how else we can point to her as the culprit," spoke Trevor with an icy calm.

"That's not the point! Why do you keep trying to blame our friends for this? We would never do anything like this to anyone!" the trainer claimed. He had been arguing with Trevor like this ever since Serena had left with Calem, even before then. He knew that whatever evidence the police had gathered to throw suspicion onto Serena had to be fake or taken the wrong way, but proving that to Trevor and the others wasn't going well.

Trevor scoffed. "Clemont seemed to be more than willing to disagree with that yesterday, didn't you, Clemont?" goaded the photographer.

Turning to his inventor friend, Ash saw a serious look in his eyes. He pushed his glasses up his face and forced his gaze to harden on Trevor. "Listen carefully. I meant what I said when I said we should be suspicious of everyone. I can tell you with absolute certainty that this evidence is fabricated, and you're jumping to conclusions once again, and once again our group is suffering for it."

"I am NOT jumping to conclusions here!" Trevor shouted. "How can you possibly be certain that the evidence is fake?!"

Clemont smirked, an unusual confidence suddenly overcoming him. "I will explain that to officer Jenny when the time is proper. Shouting in the streets will get us nowhere, as I'm sure we can all agree."

"It doesn't matter what you believe," claimed Trevor as he folded his arms. "Calem's going to find her guilty, isn't he, Shauna?"

Shauna started, clearly not wanting to participate in the conversation. "I... don't think Serena did anything wrong," she responded tentatively. "This isn't the type of thing that she would do..." she trailed off, uncertain.

Trevor appeared infuriated, and he shifted his posture to focus on Tierno instead. "Tierno, you're certain then, aren't you?"

There was a large amount of conflict painted on Tierno's face. He didn't shrink away from the question like Shauna, but he didn't jump to defend Trevor either. "I think I need some time to form my own opinion," responded the dancer. "I wasn't there when all this information came out, and I believe Clemont has a point about our jumping to conclusions. I don't want to hurt people anymore because of my rash judgement."

Ash nodded in respect to Tierno. After their battle, he was glad that the boy had come to his senses and made an effort to reestablish their friendship. Trevor, on the other hand, appeared to be getting worse and worse. As his gaze started to target Eusine, the older man waved him off, not giving him a chance to ask the question. "It would seem you've all started down the slippery slope of infighting. This is an occasion that demands that I get some popcorn. With that in mind, I will take my leave for the moment." He turned with a flourish of his cape and left Trevor standing near him, the unasked question still on his mouth.

Looking around, Ash realized that Trevor currently had nobody on his side, and the only people he hadn't asked yet were Bonnie and Sawyer, still standing next to him and Clemont. Team rocket had slipped away, displaying their special habit of running from the consequences of their actions. Ash was fairly certain he was the only one who had noticed or cared about the disappearance. Kathi Lee and officer Jenny were in the police station, so they couldn't help Trevor. While he didn't like arguing with friends, the thought of it gave Ash confidence that Serena would get out of the situation she found herself in. _Serena needs to come first. I have to make sure she's safe._

Sawyer took a small step forward to be standing next to Clemont and Ash. "Before you ask, I disapprove of our methods as well. AZ was one thing, and Serena is something completely different. I know what it's like to be under the suspicion you're trying to place her under. I don't care how much evidence you have. Until she actually commits a crime in front of my face, I will not believe you."

Ash was inspired by Sawyer's bravery and loyalty, but Trevor was annoyed. "If you wait that long, it will be too late, and she'll get away with what she's trying to achieve. I don't hate Serena, or have anything against her other than the fact that she's the most likely suspect at the moment. I want the truth, everyone, and I feel like this is the truth." He had calmed down somewhat, restoring some of the Trevor that Ash recognized.

This recovery did little to change his response. "We're all telling you that this is the wrong opinion, Trevor. Serena is the one person who would never do anything like this."

Trevor paused, considering things. Bonnie took the opportunity to offer her opinion. "Trevor, why does finding the truth mean that our friends have to suffer?" she asked.

The little girl was shaking a bit, but her voice didn't take back its statement. Trevor stared at Bonnie in surprise, as did everyone else. "I... well..." he stammered. "Bonnie, I told you I have nothing against Serena personally, but she has the evidence stacked against her right now, so I-"

"If you have nothing against her, you shouldn't accuse her." The girl folded her arms obstinately.

Trevor frustrated, let out an angry sigh. "This isn't something that can be decided by emotions, Bonnie. Hopefully by now, Calem will have had Serena arrested so that-"

"What?!" exclaimed Clemont, Ash, and Sawyer at the same time. "What do you mean by that? I thought Calem was just going to-"

"Ask her questions?" answered Trevor, some of his confidence returning. "Are you kidding me? I already made it clear that we have more than enough evidence to arrest her. We just needed to make sure you wouldn't try to interfere. We don't want you all to get in trouble as well, after all."

Ash hadn't bothered listening to the last thing Trevor said. He had to stop them from arresting Serena. He took off running in the direction that Calem and Serena had walked off in, only to force himself to a halt as a charizard landed right in front of him. Trevor sighed. "Were you listening? I don't want you all to get in trouble. Let them arrest Serena so that we can have the police handle this properly," he chided.

Ash had a poké ball in his hand and was about to throw it, but Clemont stopped him, indicating that his luxray was already staring down Charizard. "I'll handle this," he insisted. "You go to Serena, try to stop the arrest. Take that side road up ahead to get into the commercial district." He pointed to the turn in question without taking his eyes off of Trevor.

Gratitude welled up in Ash, and he nodded to his friend. "I'm not letting you leave," insisted Trevor. "Shauna, come on! You promised Calem you would help me! Don't think I didn't notice."

Shauna sighed and released her ivysaur, presenting another obstacle for Ash. He grimaced, preparing for battle after all, only for Sawyer's Sceptile to step in between the two. "I believe in Serena too, Ash. Don't let what happened to me happen to her."

"Sawyer..." spoke Ash with admiration. "Right. I won't let you down."

Trevor began to panic. He quickly turned to Tierno. "Tierno, please. If he interrupts this arrest, we'll all be in trouble."

Tierno stared at the pleading boy. He withdrew a poké ball from his pocket and stared at it. Trevor and Shauna were one thing, but Tierno would be difficult to beat, even with Clemont and Sawyer helping out. He silently asked Tierno to stay his hand, knowing words would be pointless at this stage. "I don't think Serena did this," spoke Tierno, causing Ash's heart to skip a beat in elation. "However, I think letting the police figure that out in their own time is the best option. We shouldn't get involved yet," he decided, releasing Blastoise as he spoke.

Ash frowned. There was no getting around it now. He would have to join the battle or simply wait for Jenny to drag Serena back here in hand cuffs. Resigning himself to this, he prepared to throw Greninja's poké ball, but he paused when Bonnie of all people walked into the center of the makeshift battlefield. "Bonnie, get back!" ordered Clemont in a panic. "It's not safe there!"

Bonnie's hands were clenched into fists. When she turned to face Ash, a determined smile was on her face. "Ash is going after Serena because that's the right thing to do. We all know that she didn't do it, and he's going to figure out how to show the police before she can be arrested. The three of you should be ashamed for trying to prevent that." She turned her gaze to Trevor and the others accusingly.

While Shauna looked away, Tierno seemed indifferent and Trevor was openly defiant. "Bonnie, move," he ordered. "This isn't your business."

Bonnie stamped her foot on the ground. "Of course it is! You're trying to get my best friend arrested! Do you think I'm going to sit over there and let it happen?! Just let Ash go!" As she yelled, her bag gave a rumble, and Squishy hopped out of it, taking the center of the field.

Everyone stared at the pokémon in confusion as it sat there on the ground, immobile, before a bright green light began to emanate from its body. A wave of energy flew out in a circle from the glowing light, spreading out over the town and beyond, like some sort of signal. For an instant afterwards, nothing happened, and Ash wondered if that had been some sort of attack, only for green streaks of light to start pouring into Squishy's body from all over the place, from all sorts of different angles. Squishy itself began to grow and change shape, sprouting four legs and a head with a muzzle, all while enveloped in the green light. When the light finally faded, Bonnie was standing next to what appeared to be a completely different pokémon. The new pokémon was black, and covered in various green patterns with a dash of red, notably surrounding its head and four paws. It growled angrily at Trevor and his companions, who regarded the new combatant warily. Bonnie took a few steps back. "Squishy and I will handle this. Go!" she ordered.

Shaking off his disbelief at the sudden transformation, Ash nodded to his friends and took off running into town. He heard Trevor turn to try and stop him, but a cry of pain from Charizard informed him that his pokémon had paid for it. Knowing he was in the clear, Ash returned his poké ball to his pocket and forced himself into a sprint towards the bustling festival. He swerved around houses and various stalls and pedestrians, struggling to figure out where Calem had gone. _He said he knew a cool spot. What the heck is that supposed to mean? Where would I go if I was Calem?_

Ash paused and scanned the area. He was near the center of town, but other than the various stalls and people frequenting them, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Ash began to panic a bit. He had to find Serena soon, or he would be too late. Glancing around, he noticed Eusine speaking with one of the stall managers. The memory of his apathy towards their conflict rushed into him, and he considered ignoring the man, but the wiser part of him pointed out that Eusine was the only person who really knew the town besides Calem himself. Deciding he had nothing to lose, Ash approached the man. He couldn't hear what he was saying to the man peddling blankets, but by the time he reached the two, money had been exchanged and the seller had reached under his stall and pulled out a bag of popcorn that he clearly hadn't meant to sell and was handing it to Eusine, who accepted it gratefully. The charlatan turned and nearly dropped his prize when he saw Ash approaching, but recovered quickly. "Ash? Whatever happened to arguing? I just got my popcorn, you know. This stuff is hard to come by on day three of the festival."

"I need to find Serena," spoke Ash, getting to the point. "Can you help me? I need to know where Calem would have taken her to talk."

Eusine grinned sadistically. "Oh, that's rich. Ash Ketchum needs my help. You're one of the last people I would ever want to help, you know, just in front of those trainers that force you to battle because you made eye contact with them. Such a waste of time."

A frown took over Ash's face. He didn't have time to argue or get off topic. "Eusine, please. If you won't do it for me, do it for Suicune. I think you know Serena didn't do it, even if you don't like her. If she's arrested and found guilty, then whoever really intends to attack Diantha will have just as easy a time attacking Suicune. Isn't that worth helping me?" he begged, forcing his pride down.

Eusine didn't say anything. He instead opened his bag of popcorn and ate a few pieces thoughtfully. Ash grew more impatient with every chew, but he held his tongue, lest Eusine outright refuse to help him. After three full handfuls of popcorn, Eusine finally spoke. "Yes, I do believe that makes sense. My best guess would be that Calem is at that one café with an unique view on the edge of town. Take the next two lefts going north and go straight and you won't miss it," he explained.

Not willing to waste any more time, Ash thanked Eusine quickly and took off again, following his directions. Making his turns, Ash eventually found himself standing in front of the café in question. The place was mostly abandoned, but Ash immediately identified the form of Calem seated in one of the chairs at a table overlooking the view Eusine had mentioned. Wasting no time, Ash barged into Calem's vision as he took a sip of some exotic looking drink. A half empty water glass sat unattended on the other side of the table. Unlike Eusine, Calem was clearly expecting Ash and waved to him lazily. "Hello, Ash. I thought Trevor would have managed to delay you longer, but it appears I underestimated you. Maybe it's for the best. My drink was starting to run out."

Ash looked at the water glass and said nothing. Calem followed his gaze. "Look, I know what you're thinking. Yes, Jenny took her already. Please don't be angry with me. I want them to release her as soon as possible, and as long as we find the evidence to get her out, then she'll be released promptly." He paused, waiting to hear Ash's opinion.

"Calem, why are you and Trevor so willing to help the police when they're wrong?" Ash finally asked, anger and hurt in his voice. "You and I both know Serena is innocent."

Calem grimaced. "We don't know that, but to answer your query, we're cooperating because that's what we think is the right thing to do. Nobody is above the law, and if the evidence points to Serena, then the police have a right to detain her. If you want to help Serena, the best thing you can do for her is find whoever the real culprit, if it isn't her, is."

"No," denied Ash, shaking his head. "If they arrested Serena already, we need to go to the police station. I am not going to let them hold her captive while the real criminal runs free. She doesn't deserve to be locked up in there."

"Neither did Sawyer," Calem pointed out. "You didn't have as much of a problem with that though, did you?"

"This is different," claimed Ash, folding his arms defensively. "We didn't have all the information with Sawyer. I know we can do something about this because the evidence being put against Serena is clearly faked. Are you coming with me to the police station or not?" he asked impatiently.

A small smile escaped Calem's mouth. "You remind me of me sometimes, Ash." He slapped some money on the table and stood up. "I won't stop you from doing what you think is right. I know better than that. Serena is important to you, I get it. I personally hope you convince Jenny to let her out, even if it's only temporarily, until the criminal is caught. I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused you, but I don't regret doing what I think the right thing is. Since you're ready, let's get moving."

Together, Ash and Calem set out for the police station. Ash knew he should be feeling something akin to devastation at the moment at his failure, or anger at Calem, Trevor and even the police for what they'd done to Serena, but determination was the only thing welling up within him. _They arrested Serena. They think she's a criminal. I have to prove them wrong. I have to convince Jenny to let Serena go. I won't forgive myself for allowing her to suffer in there with those two thugs._

The thought gave Ash a surge of strength, and he pushed forward vigorously. Calem kept up with him easily. "Ash," he started. "How exactly are you going to get them to release Serena? I'm just curious."

Ash thought for a moment while he continued his walk that was turning rapidly into a run. "I'm going to get Clemont to help me prove that the evidence is fake. If that doesn't work, I'll talk to Jenny directly. If that doesn't work, I'll find another way. I'm not going to give up on her until it's over," he promised.

Calem smiled at the boy. "I hope you succeed then, Ash. The sooner this situation is handled, the sooner we can continue to investigate to fill in holes in people's stories."

There was no response from Ash. He had entered a focused state, one where only he and Serena existed, and right now she needed help, help only he could provide. This state caused the remainder of the travelling to be in silence. Ash knew he could deal with everything else, even finding Pikachu, later. Serena came first, just as she had when she was attacked back at the old manor. The two finally reached the police station, and Ash was slightly distraught that the street he had left in the midst of a battle not very long ago was now deathly quiet, without signs of a struggle. Calem had no knowledge of this battle, however, and advanced into the station unaffected by the worry of attention. Ash followed him, and was slightly relived to see everyone there in one piece, particularly Bonnie, who was petting Squishy, reverted back to its original form. Everyone sans Jenny greeted the new arrivals as they walked in. Clemont quickly explained that Trevor had given up the battle shortly after seeing how powerful Squishy was, in favor of protecting his pokémon. Ash nodded briefly to him and refocused his attention on officer Jenny, who was filing a ludicrous amount of paperwork at her desk. Arf sat nearby, panting and wagging its small tail in content. On the other side of the desk, Serena's bag lay open next to her three poké balls. As Ash approached the main desk, ignoring everyone lounging on one seat or another and the guard standing in front of the door leading into the cell room, Calem spoke up. "I told you he'd come for her, Jenny. You owe me dinner."

Jenny briefly glanced up to look at the new arrivals. "We weren't betting. I've got enough paperwork to handle here explaining the mess you've all made for me to the rest of the region. I'm not releasing Serena until you drop another more likely suspect in front of me." She returned to her work in a huff of frustration.

Clemont rose and moved over to Ash. "We've been trying to talk to her since she brought Serena in. She said Serena doesn't want to talk to anyone, and she won't even let us explain ourselves to her."

The trainer turned to Jenny, brushing off his surprise at Serena's request. "Officer, Serena is innocent. You can't-"

The policewoman looked up sharply. "Can't what? Arrest someone because there's evidence and testimony against them? Should I let her go just because you said she's innocent? I separated her from the body guards we arrested. That's all I can do for her now. You'd do well to go find the criminal yourselves if you think it's not her instead of bothering me."

Trying to move the officer was proving fruitless. Trevor shook his head. "You heard her. We can still go find AZ if you're that desperate for another suspect."

Ash shook his head. "I'm not leaving without Serena. She doesn't deserve to be locked up in there. Let me speak to her at least," he requested.

"Sorry, she was very clear about not wanting visitors," explained Jenny. "That happens to include you."

Despair started to break into Ash's mind. He turned to Clemont. "There has to be some way to get Serena out," he stated in a matter-of-fact tone to his friend. "Can't you prove the evidence is fake or something?" he asked.

Clemont pushed his glasses up his face, obscuring his eyes. "I could, yes, but I'd need to have unlimited access to said evidence, which Jenny has refused to provide me with following Serena's apprehension."

Calem raised an eyebrow. "You won't let him look at the map anymore, Jenny?"

Jenny didn't look up. "We asked him before we arrested Serena, and he said no. Now we arrested her and he suddenly wants to investigate. That doesn't hold water with me," she responded bluntly.

Bonnie stood up and moved over to the trio. At this point, Shauna had risen to join Calem while Trevor and Tierno spoke quietly. Sawyer and Kathi Lee remained off to the side, staying out of any conflict. Eusine chewed loudly on some delicious popcorn. "Clemont, you have to do that thing!" she insisted. "The gym leader thing!"

For an instant, Clemont tilted his head in confusion, only to immediately understand what she wanted and frown. "Bonnie, that's an incredibly risky move for both me and you to make. That power is reserved for issues concerning the entire region."

"This does concern the entire region!" countered Bonnie. "If they don't release Serena, they won't keep investigating for the real criminal, and Diantha won't have anyone to help her. You have to take over, Clemont!"

Bonnie's yelling had drawn everyone's attention, even officer Jenny's. "What are you talking about?" she asked suspiciously.

Realizing that everyone was staring at him, Clemont inhaled sharply and withdrew a small, thick book from his bag. He flipped through it for a moment before stopping on a page. "Gym leader rules and responsibilities, chapter eighteen, section five, page one hundred sixty three, specifically powers of the gym leader regarding criminal investigations. If a criminal investigation is taking place regarding a crime committed that threatens the safety of the region as a whole or its people, the most available gym leader has the right and responsibility to take control of the investigation and all the privileges that such a position requires until the conclusion of the investigation. If the gym leader does this, he or she agrees to take personal responsibility for any failures in the investigation to successfully apprehend the criminal in question, barring circumstances outside his or her control or other unusual circumstances. Abuse of this authority will result in immediate removal from the position of gym leader and criminal charges." He closed the book. "Simply put, I have the right to take over the investigation, but anything that goes wrong from this point onward would be my responsibility."

"Give me that book," demanded officer Jenny. Clemont handed her the book of rules and she flipped through it angrily. Eventually she slammed the book shut and threw it carelessly back to Clemont, who barely caught it. "I've heard of this rule. Never seen it used before, though. So, Clemont, are you going to take over the investigation or not?" she challenged.

Clemont sighed. "I don't want to, if it can be avoided. Could I possibly talk to you alone about the matter? If you'd be willing to listen then I'm sure I could convince you that such drastic action isn't required," he posited.

The second he said alone, Trevor spoke up. "You can't just let him take over! The investigation is over. He's just going to get his friend released," the boy accused.

"Clemont wants to let her go because she's innocent!" exclaimed Ash. "He's doing the right thing by letting her go."

The room began to erupt into chaos as everyone yelled their opinions on what Clemont should be doing with his newfound authority. Ash continued to argue specifically with Trevor over the fact that Clemont was doing the right thing. The raucous noise only continued to increase until a piercing roar filled the room, forcing everyone to fall silent and hold their ears to try to block out the noise. Ash turned and realized that Arf was the source of the dreadful noise, using a roar attack that drove the whole room backwards. After almost ten seconds of yelling, Arf finally quieted, and the whole room fell silent as Jenny petted her pokémon gently, the paperwork on her desk having been blown around the room from the force of the roar attack. Eusine's popcorn had also made its way to the ground. The police officer guarding the door grumbled and began to pick up the papers while Calem grinned, removing some ear plugs he must have somehow put in before the attack. "Now that I have your attention," spoke officer Jenny calmly. "I can see that you all feel very strongly about this. Seeing that I have no way of preventing Clemont from taking control of the situation if he chooses, and knowing you all won't leave me alone, we'll do this the old fashioned way. Everyone is going to leave and come back, one at a time. You're all going to get out whatever it is you need to say about the case, and I promise you that Clemont and I will consider the information. That being said, get out of here and come back in five minutes. I don't care who goes first. Say what you need to say when you come in, and we'll decide what happens with Serena and Clemont. Is this fair for everyone?"

Clemont massaged his ear. "I think that is a fair solution, officer, and I hope that this convinces you to release Serena without the need for me to intervene."

Jenny shot Clemont a look. "All I know is that Serena has the most evidence against her. Unless one of you has been hiding something huge, that isn't going to change. This is to determine what you intend to do about this. I've done my job."

"I understand," spoke Clemont. "If there's no objections, let's give Jenny time to clean the room."

Nobody objected, somewhat to Ash's surprise, but he was mostly just grateful that officer Jenny was giving him a chance to explain his story to help aid Serena. _I'm not leaving without Serena._ He repeated this fact to himself over and over as he and the others, Clemont included, left the police station. As soon as the doors closed, Clemont whispered sharply in Ash's ear. "We have to convince Jenny to release Serena on her own. I can't take over the investigation. I'm supposed to consult all the other gym leaders beforehand, and the process is so long that the Suicune Festival will be over before I get the chance to do anything. I'll do what I can to get a look at the evidence, but you have to convince Jenny to let Serena out so she can keep searching for the criminal," he spoke urgently.

Ash turned to his friend. Clemont was making an incredibly risky move, claiming authority over the investigation just to get Serena out of jail, and Ash knew he couldn't let Serena or his friend down. "I will, Clemont. When I go back in there, I'm not going to come out without Serena."


	15. Chapter 15: Due Process

Jenny sat at her desk, one hand absentmindedly stroking Arf while the other fiddled with a pencil carelessly. She had been so sure of her actions before she had allowed people to start talking to her. None of them had quite the same opinion, and they all felt justice had to be carried out a specific way. What's worse, Jenny found herself agreeing with some of them. She had wanted to foist the debate of whether or not to free Serena into the hands of Clemont, allow the boy to fly or fall by his own merit with the problem, but now she was feeling compelled to release Serena herself. That was potentially ruinous for a woman's career in defense of the region from criminals if Serena did happen to be the evil person they were after. "What do you think, Arf?" she asked the fire type. "What am I supposed to do in situations like this?"

Tilting its head cutely at the question, Arf began to nuzzle up against its trainer affectionately. Jenny smiled. "Arf, come on, this is serious." The cop made no move to stop her pokémon in spite of her words.

Wile she was considering her options, Arf got bored and removed itself from Jenny's grasp, jumping from the table to the ground. At first Jenny was upset that her pokémon was ditching her, but then Arf started nudging one of the drawers near the ground. Jenny tilted her head. "Arf, you know the autograph book is in the top drawer. The only thing in there is the tablet for the video cameras."

Being a small town, the police station only had two hidden cameras in it, one for each room. Arf continued to nudge the drawer until Jenny gave in and opened it, pulling out the small tablet that showed a live feed of both rooms on its screen. Several buttons for replaying and saving recorded footage lined the bottom of the device, and a fine layer of dust covered the entire thing. She blew the dust off and Arf sneezed. "What, do you want me to watch the testimony again?" she asked her pokémon.

Arf barked cheerily. Jenny sighed. She didn't understand her pokémon sometimes. _I guess I could watch everyone's testimony again... if for no other reason than to appease Arf. Maybe there's something I missed. Anything that can make this decision easier._ She rewound on the tablet to where the first testimony, Trevor's, began. Arf hopped back up onto the table and settled next to Jenny to watch the recording.

 _Trevor entered the room, appearing slightly nervous yet determined. Jenny looked up and motioned him to sit in a chair placed in front of her desk. The photographer sat down, keeping himself as straight as possible in his chair. "State your name and relation to the accused, please," ordered Jenny emotionlessly._

 _"Trevor. I'm one of Serena's friends," responded the boy, now clearly less certain of himself._

 _Jenny began to write Trevor's response on a pad of paper-_

Jenny paused the recording and shuffled through various papers she had scattered around her desk while considering all the information she had until she found the pad of paper in question. She flipped to the page she had made for Trevor for reference and pressed play once more.

 _Looking up from her pad, Jenny raised an eyebrow at Trevor. "I understand you believe that Serena is guilty, and yet you call her your friend. Care to explain?"_

 _Trevor's discomfort increased. "Well, yes, I believe she is guilty, but only because of the large amount of evidence that was accumulated against her. She and I were friends before the events of this festival. I would not have suspected her were it not for the evidence found at the crime scene."_

 _Jenny consulted her notes. "You and Calem found the town map, correct? Can you describe the events that led to his retrieval of it?"_

 _"Well... there isn't much to tell," stammered Trevor, with hesitation. "We found the map on the table next to her bag. Calem insisted we give it to the police instead of putting it in Serena's bag. That's what happened." He folded his arms uncomfortably._

 _Jenny scribbled on her pad. "So you knew the map belonged to Serena, and you still didn't return it to her. How did you know it contained incriminating evidence if you claim you didn't suspect her?" She raised her eyebrows, switching her gaze between Trevor and the town map in question._

 _"I..." Trevor paled. "Listen, officer, is all of this truly necessary? We have the evidence, don't we?" He was practically begging at this point._

 _Confusion overtook Jenny's face. "I'm doing this because your group was insistent that action be taken. If I had things my way, then we wouldn't be having this conversation and I could do my job, arresting suspects of crimes on the basis of evidence. However, if this is what we're doing, I'm going to do it right, even if I feel we've caught our perpetrator already. So, why didn't you return Serena's tablet to her?" she asked forcefully._

 _Trevor played with his hands. "What if I refuse to say anything?"_

 _Jenny shrugged. "That depends on what your friends say. As long as you have no reason to hide something, you're more than welcome to exercise your right to remain silent."_

 _A moment of silence passed through the room. Trevor considered his options. "Here's the truth," he finally stated. "I started to suspect Serena after she and Bonnie were attacked by the thugs you arrested. It didn't make sense to me that Bonnie would be taken and she wouldn't. Because of that, I checked the history on the town map when I found it, and saw the evidence on it. Because of what I saw, I felt the need to submit the map as evidence rather than return it to Serena."_

 _Trevor leaned back in his chair, breathing like he had run a marathon. Jenny raised an eyebrow at him. "So you lied about not suspecting Serena," she reasoned._

 _"Like I said, Serena is my friend," the photographer responded, regaining some of his confidence. "I didn't want to tell the truth because I thought it would make things worse for her."_

 _Scribbling noises echoed throughout the room as Jenny added another note to her pad. "Alright. Anything else you need to add regarding your opinion on the case?" she offered._

 _"No," exclaimed Trevor quickly. "I think I've made my point regarding Serena's guilt."_

 _Jenny frowned but chose not to address the comment. "Alright then. Go get the next person."_

 _Trevor rose and left the station quickly. Jenny stared at the town map while she waited for the next person to enter the room._

In the present, Jenny also felt her gaze drawn to the town map. _Clemont didn't want to look at it until after we told him Serena had been detained... he didn't push the issue very hard during his interview, either._ Glancing at her notes on Trevor, she saw that she had crossed out most of them, leaving only a note stating that he was willing to lie to help his friends. Even if he agreed that Serena was guilty, he had still lied. She couldn't rely on that. The sound of her own voice asking for a name drew her attention to the tablet once more.

 _"Tierno. Serena and I... are friends." came Tierno's voice in response to officer Jenny's question as he took a seat._

 _"Are you sure about that, Tierno?" officer Jenny asked suspiciously._

 _"No..." he admitted._

 _Jenny put a hand to her head and sighed. "Look, you're either her friend or you aren't. Pick one."_

 _Tierno put way more effort into making this decision than was even remotely necessary. "Friend. I'm her friend," he decided._

 _Jenny scribbled on a new page in her pad._

Jenny stared at her page for Tierno. The only thing she had ended up writing on it was _confused and/or too emotional._

 _Looking up from her writing, officer Jenny stared at the dancer. "Alright. Tell me then, do you believe that Serena is innocent?"_

 _Tierno looked behind him, at the door. "I agree with everything Trevor said. Does that work?" he asked, clearly uncomfortable._

 _Staring at the boy incredulously didn't get rid of his statement. Once Jenny realized this, she continued. "You don't have your own opinion? You know Trevor called her guilty, right? You said you were friends."_

 _Tierno began to go back into his deep thinking mode regarding the meaning of friendship, and Jenny slammed a hand on the desk to get his attention. "Tierno, don't play games with me. This is a charge of attempted murder we're dealing with here. Now, you'll have one shot to give me a straight answer: what is your opinion regarding Serena's arrest?"_

 _To officer Jenny's surprise, Tierno's face hardened, and he responded almost immediately. "I believe Serena is guilty. She plotted to kill the champion, although I don't know why. The evidence against her is valid and should be enough to convict her. If you could get on with that as soon as possible, that would be preferable."_ _He looked down to the floor, whatever confidence he had just displayed seeping out of his body._

 _Jenny stared long and hard at Tierno. "What, pray tell, makes you so sure?" she inquired._

 _"One reason, and one reason only," spoke Tierno with renewed venom. "She already betrayed me once. I trusted her with my feelings and she stabbed me in the back," he accused. He had become deadly serious._

 _"Are you kidding me?" Jenny asked to the room. "You think Serena is guilty because she...turned you down? Am I reading this right? Please tell me I'm not reading this right."_

 _To Jenny's chagrin, Tierno nodded, his face the same mask of intensity. "She knows what she did. She needs to feel the way she made me feel for so long. Alone, without hope, defeated."_

 _"Look, Tierno, I get it, you're upset about this, but I can't take your testimony seriously if you make it this obvious that emotion is clouding your judgement," Jenny tried to explain carefully._

 _"I'm telling you what I know about Serena," responded the dancer. "It might not be directly relevant to the case, but it's important that you know the kind of person she is. She's willing to ruin people's dreams to achieve her own, no matter the cost to the victim." A righteous anger had overtaken his tone. "I'm glad you're allowing us to testify. You need to know that she's emotionless, unwilling to participate in things that don't have immediate benefits to her. She-"_

 _The policewoman held up a hand. "That's quite enough, Tierno. At least Trevor based his argument on the evidence he found. You can't throw someone in jail for denying you their feelings. I want you to go outside and send someone more sensible in. Somebody who can give an unbiased testimony, preferably."_

 _Tierno looked like he had been slapped into consciousness. "What? You're missing the point! The point is that she's willing to do things like this. I'm trying to tell you that she can be heartless!" he nearly yelled._

 _Slowly and methodically, Jenny rose from her chair. "Tierno, you have said your piece. You chose to waste your chance on talking about your feelings rather than providing me useful information on the case, wasting everyone's time. Leave, now, or I'll tell Arf to roar again." Arf growled in a threatening manner that still appeared cute in its own way._

 _Tierno scowled, but glanced at Arf and decided against arguing. With a huff, he stood up and made his way out the door, mumbling angrily to himself. Jenny slid back into her chair and, after taking off her cap, ran a hand through her hair, massaging it._

Watching the footage brought back some of the headache Jenny remembered that Tierno had given her. She turned to Arf, who was staring at the screen intently. "Arf, I'm not sure this is a good idea. There doesn't seem to be much we can get from watching this again. I have my notes." She held up her pad of notes to her pokémon.

Arf stared at the pad curiously for a second and then blew out a few embers from its mouth, instantly igniting the pad. Jenny yelled in shock and flung the pad away, directly towards the unfortunate policeman guarding the door. He also yelped in surprise, but managed to stamp out the flames after dodging the pad itself. He picked up the now burned papers and handed them to officer Jenny, who made a note to give the man a bonus for all the work she was putting him through today. The pad had, unfortunately, been burned beyond recognition. Jenny turned to Arf in frustration. "Arf, what is wrong with you!? I had important notes in there you know!"

The puppy pokémon responded by nuzzling up against its trainer and nodding its head towards the screen, where Calem was entering the station. Jenny stared at her pokémon. "If I get to the end and find out there's no point to any of this, you're in huge trouble."

 _Calem plopped down into the chair and kicked his feet up onto the desk. Jenny looked incredibly irritated, while Arf jumped from the table and into Calem's lap. He pet the pokémon for a moment before gently returning it to the now steaming Jenny. "Name. Relationship to accused," she spat out through gritted teeth._

 _Calem took his shades off and grinned a stupid grin. "I'm sorry, you may not have recognized me with my sunglasses on. I am Calem, world famous trainer and Kalos League champion. Serena is my friend's friend." As he spoke, he waved his hands around dramatically to emphasize how amazing he was._

 _Jenny let out a long sigh. "I don't know why I even agreed to bother with you," she muttered. "Listen carefully, Calem. I'm already in a bad mood. I'm trying to be as fair to Serena as possible, here, and an informed decision needs to be made where everyone needs to be heard. If you screw around or waste this opportunity, Arf will roar you into next week. Am I understood?"_

 _The man laughed. "Oh, that roar you pulled while everyone was arguing was hilarious. I'm so glad I saw it coming and had earplugs on me. In fact, I think it was really impressive that I predicted all that, don't you?"_

 _Jenny very badly wanted to punch Calem, but the rational side of her barely maintained control. "Do... you... understand?" she managed to snap at him._

 _"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure," agreed Calem with a wave of his hand. "Now, what is it you want from me?"_

 _Jenny made a note angrily on her pad of paper. "Just tell me what your opinion regarding the case and Serena is, and how you think we need to move forward."_

 _"She did it," replied Calem immediately, without hesitation._

 _Jenny actually jumped up in her seat a little at the promptness of the reply. She waited for the man to elaborate, but he remained mum, instead fishing in his pocket for some mega stones, which he began to juggle carelessly in one hand. The silence eventually became unbearable for Jenny. "Alright. Why do you think that?" she finally asked._

 _"Because she has all the evidence against her. Because she broke poor Tierno's heart. Because she owes me dinner. Because I just spent a decent amount of time compiling information regarding the innocence of Serena, and I don't feel like regurgitating how I came to my conclusion. Take your pick of any of these wonderful reasons," he offered. Calem caught the mega stones in his hand and offered them out to the police officer, as if they actually contained the reasons he mentioned._

 _Staring at the mega stones in Calem's hand did nothing to quell her frustration. "Calem, please. Just give me a straight answer. I'm trying to do what's best for everyone here, and if you aren't willing to take these charges seriously, I'll be forced to ignore your opinion. I don't want to do that. Please just tell me why you think Serena is guilty."_

 _Calem paused, considering Jenny's words. He shuffled and sifted through his stones until he ousted one that he plucked up with his free hand. He held the stone aloft in front of the officer, which she could identify as a gardevoirite. "Here you go, then. She's guilty because, if she isn't, then that means you'll have to release her, and if you do that, then we have to go to the shrine. We have to go to the shrine to make sure Diantha will be safe from the criminal on the loose. If we do that, then the criminal will find the shrine undoubtedly, because I'd bet this mega stone that he's watching us right now." Calem paused and threw a look to the hidden camera in the room._

Jenny nearly had a heart attack when Calem stared directly at her, and she had only just composed herself when the recorded Calem spoke again.

 _"So, when we all rush the shrine, then the enemy finds the shrine. That's not okay. We can't sit around and twiddle our thumbs, either, on the off chance that the enemy discovers the shrine without our help. It's a catch-22, truly. For those reasons, it is best we all allow Serena to be guilty."_

 _He folded his arms, clearly extremely pleased with himself. Jenny was slow on the uptake. "So... you don't actually think Serena did it. You just want an excuse for us to not have to go to the shrine."_

 _"She did it," spoke Calem stubbornly._

 _Jenny threw her hands in the air. "Alright, you insufferable trainer, you've made your point. Get out of here before I kick you out. I'll consider what you said," she promised._

 _Calem rose and bowed overdramatically at the cop. "Why thank you, madam. It has been my immense pleasure, as always, to work to aid you in your expenditures for justice." He walked out of the room with a confident strut to his step._

Knowing both that Kathi Lee was next and that she said nearly nothing of any relative interest, Jenny decided to fast forward through that part of the footage while she thought about Calem's words. If she chose to release Serena, then she would indeed send some officers to the shrine. She was thinking of visiting herself, in all honesty. She hadn't considered the possibility that she would be followed until Calem brought it up, and she remembered cursing herself for being ignorant to the possibility. Even if she didn't release Serena, she had entertained the idea of sending an envoy of police to protect the champion. According to Kathi Lee and the doctor, she was still weakened. With Calem's idea stuck in her head, the discreet approach would have to go out the window. She would either send everyone to the shrine or send no one. The enemy had already demonstrated a far greater ability than would be deemed necessary to detect and follow a few cops, even if they disguised themselves. She slammed a hand on her desk in frustration. "Why'd you have to bring this up, Calem? Why couldn't you just let me use my officers the way I wanted to? Why do I have to keep relying on you and your friends to do my work?!" As she spoke, Arf snuggled up against Jenny further and nosed the tablet.

Jenny dragged herself out of her frustration long enough to look at the tablet screen, where Shauna was entering the room and sitting down in fast forward speed. Realizing what Arf was pointing out, the cop pressed play on the tablet, and the video continued at normal speed.

 _" -is Shauna. I'm Serena's rival in performing, but we're still really good friends. I introduced her to performing," answered Shauna._

As video Jenny made a note on her pad, present Jenny lamented the loss of the pad and shot Arf an angry look.

 _"Alright. So you and Serena are on good terms, correct? Just to be clear here," the cop asked._

 _Shauna nodded. "Yes. I trust her, and she trusts me,"_

 _Another note was etched onto the pad. "Understood. That in mind, what is your opinion on the case and Serena's innocence?"_

 _Conflict flew across Shauna's countenance. She threw several glances at the door. "May I ask what Calem said about this?" she requested with a slight tremble in her voice._

 _"Is it too much for me to ask you people to have your own opinions?" Jenny burst out. "You're the second person who's come in here and tried to take the stance of someone else. Why can't you just tell me what you think?"_

 _Shauna shrank a little in her chair and shifted her body to be facing closer to the exit. "I... Calem told me to just agree with what he says, but he never told me what he said, and I don't want to disappoint him..." Her voice was dull and joyless._

 _"Teenagers..." muttered the cop, like it was a curse word. "Shauna, I'm not going to tell you what Calem said. I want to know what you think about the case. I don't need to hear what he said again. Please don't be another Tierno, or I'll throw this whole idea away and run you all out of town myself."_

 _The performer paused. "Tierno is dealing with some stuff right now..." she spoke in a feeble attempt at defense for her friend._

 _Jenny shook her head dismissively. "Yes, I heard. Don't change the subject on me, Shauna. Nobody is going to know what's being said right now except me and maybe Clemont with your permission. Calem doesn't need to know what you said. Understood?"_

 _Shauna sniffled, apparently holding back a tear or two. "You promise that what I say won't leave this room?" she asked pathetically._

 _Softening her gaze, Jenny nodded. "You have my word," she reassured the performer._

 _With one more forlorn glance at the door, Shauna finally turned her full attention to Jenny. "Alright. Serena is innocent. There's no way she committed those crimes. That's what I think," she blurted out._

 _While dealing with these people was clearly trying her patience, Jenny allowed a little of the pride she had for the girl for speaking her mind to show in her face. "Thank you for being honest. Why do you believe Serena is innocent?" she asked gently._

 _" I... can't prove anything," the girl admitted. "But, well, I know she doesn't have a motive for doing any of this. I know Serena pretty well. There's nothing that would ever tempt her to commit a crime like this," she promised._

 _Jenny sighed. "Well, it's true that we have no motive for her actions, but that's the sort of thing a court has to decide, not me. You don't have anything to say about the gathered evidence?" she asked, trying to help the girl._

 _To both parties' chagrin, Shauna shook her head. "There's nothing I can add, sorry. I wasn't around to see much of the evidence. I can't speak for it," she said._

 _Jenny frowned. She nodded towards the door. "Calem, for your information, claimed she was guilty. If I had told you that, would you have called Serena, your friend, innocent?"_

 _Shauna panicked a bit. "He did? But I thought... oh. I... don't know. Maybe," she answered uncertainly._

 _"I would consider the answer to that question more carefully, if I were in your position. Serena's future could depend on it. Anything else you feel you can add to this investigation should be added now," she prompted._

 _Shauna stood up from her chair abruptly. "No... I believe I've said all I can say. I have some things to think about. May I go?" she asked almost inaudibly._

 _Jenny felt pity for the performer. "Yes," she answered. "Send the next person in when you leave." The cop made another note on her pad as Shauna quickly exited the building._

Jenny leaned back in her chair, preventing Arf from reaching her. The pokémon whimpered, but Jenny ignored it. She was recalling the testimony of the remaining people, and it merited her frustrated confusion. Shauna's willingness to agree with everything Calem said made her testimony about as useful as Tierno's. As it stood, she essentially only received two testimonies from the first half of speakers, and they both claimed Serena's guilt. "You didn't want me to watch it because of them, though, did you Arf?" she asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"Growlithe!" exclaimed the pokémon, pacing around the tablet and nosing towards it impatiently.

Jenny returned her attention to the tablet and her pokémon. _Arf always was good at seeing things in cases that I missed. If I didn't catch something, Arf will tell me._ "You better know what you're looking for, Arf," Jenny warned.

The pokémon panted happily. _Arf is also very good at getting what it wants. It might just be happy to see me again after all this time. That would explain why it burned the pad._ Jenny stared at her pokémon, and leaned forward in her chair once more to run a hand through its fur. She continued this motion absentmindedly until Eusine burst into the police station on the screen, making a loud noise that caused trainer and pokémon to jump.

 _"Do you mind?" Jenny asked irritably once she got over her surprise. "I've dealt with enough children for one lifetime today already."_

 _Eusine clearly did not mind, and he strode into the room confidently, standing over the chair, popcorn in one hand, a deck of cards in his other hand. "One of life's greatest mysteries surrounds the process of our own development. We don't evolve, like pokémon do. No, we have to do things the hard way, take those dramatic shifts and stretch them out over long years and short years and all those strange years in between. What you're dealing with, officer, is the question of who we are as humans. To evolve as a human requires the far too valuable ingredients of time and experience, so you would do well to forgive our younger friends if they sometimes fail to meet the level requirement this sort of battle would normally demand." He popped some popcorn into his mouth nonchalantly._

 _The police officer raised an eyebrow at the man. "It sounds like you're quoting something," she pointed out._

 _The charlatan nodded. "I'm quoting myself. As I said, time and experience. Those children out there are remarkably experienced for their age. It comes with the life of a traveler, I suppose. You face the rare breed of plenty of experience mixed with low amounts of time taken to retrieve it, and you get people who have to deal with evolution a lot faster than the average person who lives in one town their whole life. It's not a bad thing, but I've seen many a conflict breed out of this combination in my day. I can even attest to causing conflict like that in my own youth." He appeared to reminisce as he paused in his speaking._

 _Jenny was clearly lost, and she attempted to change the topic. "...Right. Can you just sit down and give me your name so we can get this questioning over with?"_

 _Eusine proudly held his head high, although the image he was going for was slightly ruined by his chewing of popcorn. "As you wish. I'm Eusine. I prefer to stand."_

 _"I'm not even going to bother arguing that," admitted Jenny. "Just tell me your relation to the accused."_

 _"Serena?" spoke the man. "If you twist my arm, I suppose I could label her as an acquaintance. We only met a few days ago," he explained in between popcorn chewing._

 _Jenny made some angry pad notes. "So what is your belief regarding Serena and why?" she interrogated._

 _Eusine sighed deeply. "I cannot look past the evidence. She is undoubtedly guilty. You'll receive no erring opinion from mine compared to the others regarding Serena's guilt. I am far more concerned with you, officer, and your own opinion."_

 _"The only thing you can do to sway my opinion is to provide your own, Eusine. Simply agreeing with one side will do little to help you or me," Jenny said forcefully._

 _Eusine clicked his tongue. "That's disappointing, officer. You and I should both know what this is really about. I assume Calem broached the subject already?"_

 _Jenny looked to be thinking back to Calem's conversation with her. "You also think this is about the shrine's location?"_

 _"My first priority is and always will be Suicune," the man spoke, suddenly deadly serious. "I don't know how credible the evidence is, and I don't care. I know that, as long as the shrine's location remains safe, then Suicune remains safe. If that fact changes, then events will be set in motion that are sure to uproot the foundation of this town. The process should be more gradual than that, but my hand will be forced if the shrine's location is to be revealed now. I would hope you understand the implications," he said._

 _The second to last statement received Jenny's full attention. "That sounded like a threat, Eusine. What do you and Calem know that I don't?"_

 _Eusine chuckled. "You suggest I collude with Calem. That is simply false. We both merely happen to understand the greater implications behind this arrest. I'm certain he told you to leave her where she is, as I tell you now. Let the court find her innocent, after the immediate threat to the champion and Suicune passes. As to my words, I only use them to force you to understand that, with all my years of studying and learning about Suicune, events that threaten it will certainly have extremely negative implications for the town that we will be forced to act quickly on. I apologize for my vagueness," he spoke candidly._

 _"I don't think I can leave her in prison simply because it would help us fight the real enemy. There are several people that wouldn't stand for that." Jenny admitted._

 _"That is a shame," spoke Eusine. "It is unavoidable though, I understand. Know this, though. Some events are unavoidable. I recommend you evolve your thinking on the situation around what is nearly certain to happen, rather than trying to avoid the possibility of a threat that is already present." He didn't wait for a response, and strode out the door with more flamboyance than before._

Jenny had forgotten about the anger that Eusine's testimony had caused to course through her, the rage. Eusine had no right to attack her method of handling the case, to berate her as if she was a small child who couldn't adapt her mentality. She took a step back mentally and forced herself to calm down. The same rage that attacked her now had robbed her of the time to consider Eusine's argument earlier. She took this time now, going over his statements in her head. He had claimed that he believed that Serena was guilty, and yet his final words had seemed to indicate that he believed in the benefits to Serena's release, seeing as how the threat of the shrine being discovered was inevitable, regardless of Serena's captivity. Considering this idea, Jenny realized that she faced a similar situation. If she let Serena go and she happened to be the culprit, she would be in massive trouble. If she didn't let her go and the real criminal carried out their attack without resistance because she was guarding an innocent girl, then she would also be in massive trouble. _It really is a catch-22. I can lose no matter what I do. Maybe I shouldn't base my opinion on this particular aspect of the case._ She turned to Arf. "Well, Arf? Is this the big thing you wanted me to notice? Am I supposed to decide this case based on the threat to me?" she guessed aloud.

Arf wagged its tail, panted, and continued to nudge the tablet incessantly. Jenny sighed. "Fine, we'll watch the others."

Turning her attention back to the screen, Jenny tensed up as she recognized Sawyer entering the room, much in the way that she had when he had actually entered the room. Being the initial suspect, Sawyer had a unique perspective on the situation, but that same perspective caused Jenny herself to feel guilty for her brash action of arresting the boy. _I could be doing the same thing to Serena right now._ She focused on the screen, ignoring her mind.

 _"Name and relation to the accused," demanded Jenny bluntly._

 _Sawyer took a seat carefully in front of Jenny. He carried with him none of the brazen confidence of Eusine or Calem, nor any of the trepidation brought in by Trevor, Tierno and Shauna. In short, he was calm, and Jenny immediately respected him for it. "Sawyer. The accused and I are friends, although we haven't known each other very long," he admitted._

 _Jenny made a note and focused on the green haired boy. "Heard. Now, can you explain to me your opinion on the case, specifically what you believe or know regarding Serena?" she asked._

 _Sawyer paused. "It's my understanding that AZ is the most likely suspect in this case barring Serena, correct?"_

 _Jenny nodded without thinking. "Yes, although the evidence currently against Serena bars him of most of the suspicion we had for him. Why do you ask?" she inquired._

 _The trainer inhaled sharply. "I know Serena didn't commit the crime. I know this because I have proof in addition to my own account of events that AZ did commit the crime," he revealed, only a bit of hesitation revealing the effort he had put into making the claim._

 _"You can't be serious," was all Jenny managed to get out before her mouth fell open. When she had regained her senses during a quiet silence, she continued. "Why would you hide something like that for this long? How are you supposed to prove that?" she asked rapidly, bombarding the boy with questions._

 _Sawyer raised a hand, as if to fend off her words. With his free hand, he withdrew a notebook from his pocket and held it out to the officer. "This is my notebook," he explained. "It holds everything I know about being a pokémon trainer, everything I've observed, everything I'd like to learn. It's easily my most prized possession besides my pokémon."_

 _Accepting the notebook, Jenny briefly flipped through it. Other than a picture of Steven, the champion of the Hoenn region, on the inside front cover, she didn't notice anything particularly special about the notebook. The pages were covered in indecipherable jargon to the officer. "What's your point, showing me this?" Jenny asked cautiously._

 _Another sigh escaped Sawyer. "It's the evidence I mentioned. I haven't been completely honest about everything, officer. I intend to make my story clear now. When I first entered town two days ago, late at night, I was making my way to the hotel when I heard a scream. Nobody else was around, so I decided to head for the source to investigate. When I turned a corner, I was nearly run over by a very tall man. I didn't know it at the time, but it was AZ. When we collided, my journal went flying out of my pocket and landed in his hands. When I recovered my senses, I stood up to ask him for my notebook back, but instead he forced a key stone into my hand and ran off, yelling something about how I needed to protect the stone if I ever wanted to see the journal again. I wasn't sure what to say, but I got the impression that he had taken the stone. Because of the worth of the journal to me, I decided not to reveal that I had the stone if asked about it. That was when the police showed up, I panicked and ran, and Trevor got his photo. You know what happened next. When they found the key stone, I was extremely worried, but AZ pulled me aside and told me that he wouldn't destroy my journal as long as I didn't incriminate him. He disappeared shortly after that. I was worried I would never see my notebook again, but when I found it in that small house where Bonnie was being held, I knew I could carry no inhibitions about incriminating him anymore." He paused and drew breath again. "To put it simply, Serena is innocent, and AZ is certainly not," he surmised._

 _Sitting back in her chair didn't help the information sink in any easier for officer Jenny. "I'm not quite sure what to say about all of this. You didn't ever say anything because you were worried about the potential effects your speaking would have on your journal. I've got that correct, right?"_

 _Sawyer nodded. "Yes. I wouldn't have kept quiet for so long were it not for the journal. After I found it and claimed it, I knew I had to incriminate AZ, even if it meant potential danger for myself. I won't allow Serena to be punished for that man's actions, even if I must suffer for it," he spoke boldly._

 _"How... noble of you," Jenny finally commented. "That being said, I can't accept the evidence you've presented to me as solid evidence of the guilt of AZ, at least as the mastermind of this event." She slid the notebook back across the desk to Sawyer._

 _It was Sawyer's turn to be shocked. "What? Seriously?! But this proves that AZ is guilty! You have to believe me, officer!" he insisted._

 _Jenny shook her head. "Sawyer, I have to be honest. I'd be taking a large risk in believing your testimony, especially considering that I'd only be able to accept your testimony on this matter. I can't imagine AZ would agree with your words. Even if I choose to believe you, AZ still appears to only be another pawn in the game rather than the mastermind, as the evidence against Serena would label her as." She smiled to herself, proud of the deduction._

 _"No, you don't understand!" Sawyer exclaimed. "AZ is the mastermind! He would never collude with Serena like that! It's not who he is!"_

 _Jenny nodded. "You're right. From what we know, AZ doesn't interact much with the outside world. That's why he would work better as a worker under Serena's influence rather than as a mastermind. Does that make sense to you?" she asked carefully._

 _Sawyer frowned. "Officer, please," he begged. "I'll take any punishment you see fit for me. Serena doesn't deserve-"_

 _The word caused Jenny to snap at the boy. "Deserve?!" she interrupted. "You didn't deserve to be imprisoned! Diantha didn't deserve to be attacked in the way that she was! This town didn't deserve the second chance it got! This isn't about what people deserve! It's about finding the truth, and right now the truth in front of me points to Serena being the head of the operation while AZ was merely a part. Is that clear?" she demanded to know._

 _Sawyer looked down. He very clearly wanted to argue, but no words left his mouth. Eventually, he spoke again. "I see that my evidence was not enough to convince you. I hope that Clemont will help you find the truth you need to see," he spoke ominously._

 _Without another word, the boy stood and claimed his notebook. Before he could make for the door, Jenny rose as well, suddenly remorseful for her outburst. "Sawyer, wait. Is there anything else you think you can add that would benefit Serena? I promise you, we have no interest in incriminating you as an accomplice, willing or unwilling," she promised in a more kindly fashion._

 _With a glance at the officer, Sawyer shook his head. "I have presented my knowledge of the truth to you, officer. It's your job to take that and use it to find the answer to this case, which I hope will allow you to see the error in your arrest." He turned fully and exited the building, leaving Jenny with more questions than she had started with and fewer answers._

While Jenny had made note of the evidence Sawyer had presented on her pad, the burning of it meant that she now had no proof of its existence sans the video she was watching. She quickly pulled out another sheet of paper and recorded Sawyer's testimony and evidence. Even if it wasn't useful in getting Serena out, she would need it in the event that AZ was located and arrested. As she recorded the information, she realized that she currently wasn't devoting any of her force to tracking AZ. It wasn't like this could really be helped, with all the officers being needed to either monitor the festival, guard Serena, or investigate the site of Eusine's secret base and the small house where Bonnie was held. Arf stepped on the pad Jenny was writing on. She looked up sharply. "Arf, I don't think I need your commentary on this one," she rebuked sharply.

As usual, this did little to alter Arf's behavior. For all of Jenny's authority, she could never bring herself to force her pokémon to do what she wanted it to do when they weren't battling. Finishing her commentary on paper, Jenny made a mental note on top of her written words to consult Calem about AZ, considering he was the closest person to AZ she knew. The sound of the doors being flung open drew Jenny's attention back to the screen. Bonnie had come flying into the room and was sprinting up to officer Jenny.

 _"Officer, you have to release Serena! She's innocent!" the small girl cried out at the woman._

 _Before Jenny could muster up a response, Clemont entered the room behind the officer. "My apologies, officer. Sawyer told Bonnie how it went and she's, well, upset. Bonnie, come on! We shouldn't be bothering officer Jenny right now!" he insisted, preparing to drag Bonnie away with his aipom arm._

 _Staring at the youth, Jenny saw a fire burning in her eyes. Unlike everyone who had entered the room so far, she appeared to posses a deep passion for the matter at hand, a startling understanding of the ramifications of the decision Jenny was to make. Before she had burst in, Jenny had been fully prepared to send Bonnie away the moment she came in, citing that she had been held hostage for most of the events of the festival. Looking at her now, she couldn't possibly consider the concept. "Clemont, wait," she ordered._

 _Clemont obeyed immediately, stopping the movement of his aipom arm and leaving Bonnie dangling in midair. "Yes?" he prompted cautiously._

 _Jenny locked eyes with Bonnie, who was now at eye level with the cop thanks to Clemont's invention. "Do you have something to say that can benefit Serena?" she asked in the calmest voice she could muster._

 _Without a sound, Bonnie nodded. Jenny motioned to Clemont. "I'll spend a minute with her. You can go next, Clemont," she spoke in an authoritative fashion to the gym leader._

 _The decision clearly made Clemont uneasy, but he released Bonnie and left the room without a word. Bonnie took a seat in the chair, her legs swinging uncontrollably, unable to reach the ground from her seat. Jenny leaned forwards to try to make herself appear to be on Bonnie's level. "Alright, state your name and relation to the accused," she prompted._

 _Bonnie grew a determined face. "My name is Bonnie. Serena is my best friend in the world," she asserted confidently._

 _Jenny raised an eyebrow, but didn't dare question the girl. She had dealt with enough children today to know where a fruitless argument could brew. "Alright. Now, Bonnie, I need you to explain to me anything you can tell me that would benefit Serena's case. Something that would make the current evidence against her null for any reason, or testimony that proves she couldn't have done the things she's being accused of. Can you do that?"_

 _There was a silence. For a moment, it appeared as if Bonnie wasn't going to claim that she could actually do what she had already said she could do. In the end, she nodded. "I can tell you something to help Serena," she claimed._

 _Jenny politely smiled at Bonnie. "Alright, shoot," she instructed._

 _Bonnie glanced at the door to the back room and mumbled something that sounded like a plea for forgiveness. She turned to Jenny with more intensity than before. "Serena is in love with Ash!" she yelled at the top of her small lungs._

 _Jenny practically fell back into her seat at the force of the yell. Even after hearing so many of Arf's roars, Bonnie's force had still caught her off guard. "I... What? What does that have to do with anything?" she managed to ask, her mind whirling with confusion._

 _Bonnie stood up on the chair to face Jenny at eye level. "It has everything to do with this. I know Serena is innocent, but Clemont said you won't believe me because it doesn't prove anything if we're friends. He said I needed to prove she would have motive not to attack Diantha, so there it is. Serena wouldn't attack Diantha because of Ash," she claimed proudly._

 _Jenny pinched herself. It turned out that she wasn't dreaming. "I fail to see the connection you're trying to make here, Bonnie, sorry."_

 _Bonnie frowned. "Okay. I can explain. Serena has had a crush on Ash ever since she started her journey. She's tried to hide it from everyone, but she's really bad at it, and I found out first because I know her so well." She was clearly proud of her sleuthing. "Anyways, beyond being bad at keeping secrets, Serena would never make a plan to attack the champion like this because, if she did, and Ash found out about it, she would lose any chance she had with him. She would never do anything that would threaten her potential relationship with Ash," she asserted._

 _Jenny rubbed her forehead. The direction the testimonies were taking was giving her a headache. "So the problem for Serena was that she didn't want to ruin a relationship with Ash, not that she had a moral problem with attacking somebody?"_

 _It took a moment for Bonnie to understand the question, but she immediately shook her head when she did. "Oh, no! Clemont said that telling you she didn't do it because she's a good person wouldn't work, so I didn't tell you that Serena is one of the nicest, most caring people I've ever met!" she claimed._

 _"I guess you've got me there," Jenny admitted. "I guess you can't prove that she likes him, though, can you?" she challenged._

 _To her surprise, Bonnie's confidence didn't waver. "I can. The only reason that Serena started on her journey in the first place was because of Ash. Ash has a handkerchief that he originally gave Serena when they were really young to prove it. The ribbon on Serena's outfit is a gift from Ash. You can ask any of us, we'll confirm that. If there's one thing anyone who's known Serena for long enough would know, it's that she would never go this far out of her way to do something that jeopardizes her chances with Ash. That's the truth." She looked hopefully at officer Jenny._

 _Another moment passed before Jenny was confident enough to attempt to make sense of Bonnie's words. "So, you claim that Serena couldn't have done this because of her devotion to having a relationship with Ash. You also claim that anyone who knows Serena well can back this up. Does that include Ash?" she asked._

 _Bonnie shook her head. "He's super oblivious. He's the only person who doesn't know," she admitted._

 _Jenny frowned. "In that case, I'm not sure how much help your words will be. The one besides Serena with the best chance of convincing me of your claim would be Ash himself, but if he doesn't know about her feelings, then I'm not sure I can believe that her feelings are that obvious if you've been travelling together for this long."_

 _It was visible, the sinking of Bonnie's heart. "That being said," Jenny quickly continued, "I don't want you to think that you have wasted your time here. If I am able to confirm what you said, then I will have a solid motive for Serena to not commit these crimes, and as long as it's provable, I have reason to let her go."_

 _As soon as Jenny said that, Bonnie ran around the desk and hugged Jenny. The woman was surprised, but she allowed the child to hug her. "Thank you, officer, thank you! I'll tell my big brother to get the proof to explain everything to you right now! He'll convince you to let Serena out, you'll see!" She bolted out the door with all the exuberance that she entered it with, leaving Jenny feeling like she had just been hit by a speeding car. Arf barked happily after the retreating child._

Even with the fire in her eyes, Jenny had only mostly been humoring Bonnie. She hadn't expected the girl to play such a personal card on Serena's behalf. It had shaken her perspective on the situation. As tactical as Calem and Eusine wanted the situation to be, they were all still playing with people's lives here. If she made the wrong choice, people would suffer needlessly. The thought was intensely sobering. There were only two testimonies left. While Jenny could all too clearly recall what Clemont had said, she had no memory of what Ash had said, and it troubled her. _Why can't I remember what Ash said?_ she wondered.

Arf barked as Bonnie left the room on the screen Jenny turned to her partner. "Does what I'm missing have something to do with Ash and Serena?" she asked her pokémon.

For once, she wasn't ignored, and Arf continued to bark happily while nodded. Jenny's eyes widened. So reviewing everything hadn't been pointless after all. She refocused on the tablet as Clemont entered with a renewed vigor. She distinctly remembered Clemont mentioning Ash at one point during their chat. "Alright, Arf, let's get to the bottom of this," she proclaimed, feeling like a cliché detective.

 _Clemont entered the room quietly, nearly without being noticed by Jenny. As he sat, she was disturbed by the fact that she was unable to get a read on his emotions. His glasses reflected in such a way as to prevent her from seeing his eyes. "I'll skip the formalities for you, Clemont. You and I both know what we really need to discuss," she spoke, hoping that launching into the heart of the matter would cause him to open up._

 _"Alright," agreed Clemont. "Two things before we start, then. I want to know who spoke for Serena and who spoke against her, and I want to know where you stand on the issue," he demanded with quiet authority._

 _Jenny was a bit stunned to be on the receiving end of demands in her own station, but she complied, keeping his authority in mind and respecting it. "Fine. Bonnie, Shauna and Sawyer are the only people who said anything that was in favor of Serena. Some people are sympathetic but still believe she did it, others are adamant that she did it, while still others, namely Kathi Lee, didn't have any meaningful opinion one way or the other. As for myself, nobody gave me any conclusive proof that Serena is innocent, so I can't release her, although I have several pieces of circumstantial evidence-"_

 _Clemont held up a hand, halting her. "You're not convinced. That's what I needed to know. That and that Trevor was right in saying that we cannot trust each other. Allow me to be candid with you, officer. While I can commandeer your investigation, the process that I have to go through to get it done would take a rather long amount of time, longer than the time we have available to us. By the time I can legally control Serena's freedom, it will be too late, and the criminal will have made their move, making my efforts moot."_

 _Anger coursed through Jenny. She slammed a hand on her desk. "Then why did you act like you could do it whenever you wanted!?"_

 _Clemont tilted his head. "Isn't that obvious? If I told you the entire truth, then you wouldn't have gotten a chance to talk one on one with Ash."_

 _Jenny blinked. She had expected Clemont to start to explain some convoluted plan he had for proving Serena's innocence. "Wait, you had this whole interview process staged just so I could talk to Ash?" she asked incredulously. " I could have done that without talking to the others, you know."_

 _Clemont shook his head. "Maybe, but you needed to hear what the others said first. It would cause controversy if you released Serena after only hearing what Ash had to say, as I'm sure you can tell from what other people had to say about her," he explained. "In addition, this method also lets me tell you that I can legally act as her guard while she is out if you were to release her on a specific condition, such as locating the real criminal. That is within my power as a gym leader, and I don't need to take over this investigation."_

 _"You're putting a massive amount of faith in Ash's ability to convince me to release Serena. This isn't the sort of thing that you can just bail somebody out of, you know," Jenny pointed out._

 _A slow nod was Clemont's response. "Yes. Ash has earned a massive amount of my faith. I've never seen him more determined about anything else, not even about pokémon battling. He's spent the past several days lamenting the loss of his pikachu. Now that one of his closet friends has been arrested and is preventing the police for searching for the real criminal, I'm not sure that anyone can stop him. He can be quite an inspiring leader if he wishes to be."_

 _Jenny slowly formulated her response. "And if Ash fails to convince me?" she asked._

 _Clemont sighed. "Then I go through the process of taking over the investigation to release Serena myself. She is innocent, I can assure you. I don't suppose you've changed your mind about the town map, have you?"_

 _Jenny immediately shook her head. "I'm sorry, but unless you officially take over, I cannot allow you to investigate the evidence. My apologies, Clemont. So I guess you just want me to talk to Ash then, don't you? Will that somehow help you get your way?"_

 _"Yes, it will allow the truth to be revealed," responded Clemont. "That being said, Ash might be a few minutes. When he does arrive, I promise you that he will convince you of the truth," he stated confidently._

 _While the prospect of waiting had goaded Jenny's frown into deepening, she agreed. "I understand. Ash will have his chance to convince me with his opinion, as the others have had. We have plenty of time."_

 _Clemont rose out of his seat. "I eagerly await your news of Serena's release." He bowed respectfully and left the room quietly._

"I still can't believe he did that," Jenny spoke to nobody in particular. "He put all of his faith in Ash, and Serena still isn't free."

Her words triggered something within her. With a trembling hand, she pressed the fast forward button, and to her shock she saw herself thinking for a few moments before watching everyone's testimony on the tablet. Ash had never come in to testify. She glanced up at the clock. It had been nearly thirty minutes since Clemont had left the room. _Are they messing with me? They'll pay if they think they can mess around with an issue this serious._ "Is that what you wanted me to see, Arf? Ash hasn't testified yet?" she asked with a hint of anger.

Arf nodded, its face having become serious. Jenny crossed her arms. "So what, you just wanted to prove that I'm wasting my time here and I shouldn't have listened to them in the first place? You didn't have to show me all their testimonies to tell me that, Arf," she chided.

The fire type pawed the screen once more. Jenny sighed and was about to gently berate her pokémon once more, only for the screen to make a noise that drew her attention. On the screen, Ash had entered the room, and was staring at Jenny curiously. Jenny was extremely confused for her part. She had no memory of Ash ever visiting the room, so it shouldn't be possible for him to be on screen. _Unless..._ The officer flicked her gaze to the timestamp on the video, and then to a clock on the wall. The current feed was live. She looked up slowly, and witnessed Ash standing there, slightly out of breath, but standing there all the same. "I'm sorry I'm late," he apologized. "Can we still talk?"

Making an excellent recovery, Jenny straightened up. "Of course. I hope you're worth the wait, Ash," she warned, only half joking.

Arf wagged its tail at the new arrival as he took his seat. Jenny had expected him to be burning with some of the passion that as he had seen in Bonnie at the least, but his demeanor was closer to that of Clemont's, a quiet confidence that he would succeed, regardless of the situation. She wondered if he was simply hiding the fire within him to be used later. "Name and relation to the defendant," Jenny instructed.

"Ash Ketchum, and Serena is an old friend of mine. We go back a really long time, although I only started travelling with her a few months ago."

Without a pad to make a note on, Jenny forced herself to simply nod. "Okay. This is your shot, Ash. Tell me why Serena should be released, knowing the evidence against her."

Ash nodded once. "About that. I'd like to see the papers that the body guards presented to show that they were hired by Serena," he requested.

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "We've checked the signature, if that's what you're getting at. Do you really need to see it?"

"Yes," insisted Ash. "I need to see those papers."

With a shrug, Jenny pulled out the papers, sealed in plastic bags to preserve the contents. "Alright. Not sure what you think you can do with them, but knock yourself out."

As soon as Ash saw the papers, his countenance shifted. "You compared this to your autograph book signature, didn't you?" he presumed, a hint of a smile forming on his face.

Jenny tilted her head. "Of course. What else would I use?" she asked irritably.

In response, Ash withdrew a folded piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it to reveal a complicated legal document that appeared to have something to do with performing. Staring at it for a moment, Jenny recognized it. "That's the paper all new performers have to sign that shows they accept the guidelines and rules of being a performer, isn't it?" she asked.

Ash nodded. "This is a copy of Serena's paper. It took me a while to get it, but I managed to convince them to let me have a copy. I wanted it because of the signature that Serena used for it," he explained, pointing to the signature.

Jenny gasped when she saw the signature at the bottom of the page. "But... that's... completely different from the signature on this paper!" The signature that Ash was presenting her was in cursive, clearly with plenty of thought put into the strokes. Every other signature she had seen involving Serena was rushed, and wasn't in any form of cursive.

Ash nodded. "When I heard that your proof involved Serena's signature, I had a hunch that whoever faked her signature wouldn't think that she has two signatures," he explained proudly.

It was an interesting experience for Jenny, discovering just how surprised she could actually be by the people testifying in front of her. "How do you know she has two signatures? Why have two signatures?" she asked in befuddlement.

Ash placed the paper on the desk. "I know because I was the one that suggested she have two signatures. When I saw her signing the paper to become a performer and how long it took her to sign the paper, I suggested to her that she develop a faster signature to use for things like autographs or anything informal, to get her excited for being a famous performer someday. She seemed really into the idea, and the first thing she signed with her 'autograph' signature was her town map, erasing her previous signature and adding the one on the contracts and in your book."

The reality of the claim began to sink in for Jenny. Ash didn't stop. "I can validate the papers if you wish. You can also get Serena to confirm the signatures as hers. She probably didn't realize that the official document didn't have her official signature because she's only been using her casual signature for the occasional fan, like you, and hasn't signed anything formal recently."

Jenny sighed and waved off the offer. "You've made your point, Ash. I believe you. The possibility that the signatures were forged is now much more feasible. It doesn't explain how the thugs could have got their hands on her casual signature-"

"It does," interrupted Ash, cutting off Jenny's denial. "Like I said, the first thing that Serena signed with her new signature was her town map, the very thing the criminals had in their hands for over a day. That's more than enough time for them to forge her casual signature. In addition, regarding the evidence found in her search history, I understand that she was found to have been researching parts of the region outside the main regional area?" he presumed.

Without a word, Jenny nodded. She wasn't sure if she even wanted Ash to prove her wrong or not. She just wanted to listen to him. "Right. The problem with that is the town map itself. The town map can't extend to any area beyond the main region. It has no data in its search engines for areas outside the main Kalos region. I know because I used it once to try to look up something about my home region, Kanto, with Serena's permission, of course. It told me that it had no data outside the main Kalos region. Go ahead, try to ask it to pull up any of the information that it says Serena managed to pull up," he challenged.

Jenny grabbed the tablet. Of course, she remembered seeing Serena's digital signature on the town map, but it hadn't seemed relevant at the time. Pulling up the search feature, she selected one of the lawless towns that she remembered from the list compiled by her and the other officers. When she hit search, no results came up. Frustrated, she tried another town, then a city, then another town, with similarly empty results. She placed the tablet on the desk. _How did I miss such an obvious trick? This goes against my entire case against Serena._ Ash leaned forward a bit in his chair expectantly. Jenny displayed the screen of no results to him. He nodded in satisfaction. "I hope that gets rid of all the solid evidence against Serena," he spoke calmly.

A puzzled look overcame Jenny's face. "I thought you were going to come in here and argue passionately for Serena's release, but instead you just tore my evidence apart, and quite effectively, I'll grant you that. I can't help but think that Serena was set up with this evidence, but I don't know for certain."

Ash grinned a toothy grin. "I can still argue really passionately for Serena's release, sure, but that won't get me anywhere. That strategy works better in a pokémon battle. I knew I had to change my strategy to get Serena out, and it's my responsibility to help her when she needs it the most, so I decided to collect some evidence of my own. Do you have enough doubt to release her?" he asked hopefully.

It took a long minute for officer Jenny to respond. "Ash, I just don't know. I want to believe you, really I do. I don't want to make another mistake, and I can only keep investigating to find the truth if I release Serena and officially reopen the investigation. You've proven that the town map history is fake, but the signature, casual or not, is at least hers, even if it was copied or forged. How am I supposed to just look past that possibility that she signed it, even if the criminals could have easily forged it?"

"You can't," responded Ash immediately, startling Jenny. "You can't look past that, and I don't blame you for it. What you have to do is trust Serena. You have to trust, after everything you've heard from everyone, that she isn't the kind of person who would do something like this. She really cares about her career and her friends, and she wouldn't throw it away for something like this. I completely trust Serena, no matter what she's accused of. She could have the most solid evidence against her, and I would still stand by her. She earned that trust from me while we were travelling together, when she held onto an item of mine for years just because she wanted to return it to me. There's nothing I can show you to prove that Serena didn't sign that paper. I can only show you everything I have to indicate that she was set up, and that some of your evidence has already been proven to be a forgery. I can only tell you that Serena is one person you can always trust in to do the right thing for everyone, even if it doesn't benefit her at all." He held out the palms of his hands to illustrate his point.

Arf jumped into Jenny's lap. Jenny pet the pokémon while she thought about everything she had heard, from Ash's statement to Trevor's. One thing stuck out in her mind. She couldn't decide who was guilty with her current knowledge. There was simply no way it would work. She couldn't do that. She stared at Arf. Arf had wanted her to listen to what Ash had to say. She looked at the boy, and found what she had originally expected, a burning flame of passion, though the emotion in his countenance made Bonnie's fire look like a candle. _He told me that this is about trust._ She thought, before rising out of her seat, forcing Arf to jump to the ground. "I can't decide who is guilty based on this evidence," she spoke slowly and deliberately. "I therefore have to make my decision based on who I trust more, and what is better for the future of the investigation."

Ash rose cautiously, not sure what Jenny's answer would be. She allowed herself to smile genuinely at him for what felt like the first time that day. "Go get Serena. We have a criminal to find."


	16. Chapter 16: Simple Solutions

Serena looked at her hands, noted the pink lines remaining from her tumble an eternity ago. They didn't look like the hands of a potential murderer, especially because of how badly they were shaking. She wasn't sure what everyone was seeing in her, regardless of the evidence. Why couldn't they all tell how ridiculous they were being? Why didn't they understand how obviously flawed and fabricated the evidence against her was? She exhaled and her head fell back to the surface of the desk she was sitting at. _I had my chance to prove my own innocence, and I couldn't even do that right. I didn't even get to tell Ash how I felt, and now I might never see him again. I can't taunt myself by thinking about him. He doesn't deserve to be involved in my mess. He might not even care, for all I know about his past._ The thought of protecting Ash with what little power she had did little to sober her thoughts. At least the police had been kind enough not to put her in the station's single cell with the two body guards turned traitor. When she was first brought in, they had mocked her mercilessly, calling her boss and asking how her master plan was going. Most of her willpower had gone into enduring the few minutes where the traitors had their freedom to say what they wanted. Jenny herself mercifully came into the room and yelled at the thugs until they swore up and down that they would stop harassing their "boss", but they hadn't stopped looking at her condescendingly since she had arrived. The two guards standing at the door leading to the main room stood prepared to stop her should she attempt to abuse her privilege of not being in a cell, but she felt no urge to take advantage of the temptation. Seeing the bars in front of her was more than enough to make her feel confined. While she could have easily rearranged the chairs around her to create a more comfortable position for herself, Serena found herself taking solace in resting her head in her hands on the single empty desk on her side of the room, a simple wooden chair seating her. This way, she didn't have to look at the world that had betrayed her.

Some time had passed, at least if the discomfort that was rapidly growing in Serena's joints was to be believed. She was wondering what Jenny had done with her pokémon while she was in police custody when the door opened with a noisy sound of sliding metal, causing Serena to raise her head and the four men in the room to snap to attention. The two policemen immediately relaxed when they recognized another cop, while the body guards looked away in sudden disinterest. The new cop whispered to the other two, and they both nodded solemnly. One of them shot Serena a glance that she couldn't read. _Is it time already? Are they that desperate to convict somebody?!_ she wondered to herself. The new cop left the room, and Serena waited for officer Jenny to enter and tell her it was time to leave for a real prison. She considered lowering her head to hide again, but decided that attempting to separate hersefl from the problem at hand would only make her look worse than she already did. Instead, she faced the door fully, ready to meet fate with whatever confidence she could fake. Then Ash entered the room, and any sort of plan Serena had been formulating in her head was shattered. She felt herself jumping to her feet, and immediately the action caused her sore limbs to give out on her. She had to slam both hands on the table just to keep herself from toppling to the ground. Serena found herself staring at the table, thoughts racing to reach tangible realizations in her head. _Why is he here? Ash can't be here. He'll get caught up in my problems._ She forced herself to look up when she felt confident enough in her legs to hold her up. Ash was regarding her with a concerned expression. Serena did her best to appear presentable. "I told officer Jenny I didn't want to see anyone," she informed Ash in the most emotionless tone she had.

To her horror, the statement didn't cause Ash to immediately turn around and leave her to her fate. He instead walked into the room and made his way towards Serena, nothing but worry for his friend painted on his countenance. Serena immediately regretted doubting him, naïve as it may be. She couldn't remember why she had tried to prevent Ash from seeing her. When the trainer reached the desk, he paused in his movement and began to speak. "Serena, I know what you told officer Jenny, but I-" The boy was cut off, and he grunted in surprise as his speech was suddenly interrupted by a hug from Serena.

The girl could care less what Ash was saying. He had come for her. No matter what happened in his past travels, he had come for her, even when she told him not to. She felt arms around her back, and realized that Ash had returned her embrace. It didn't matter that four strangers were watching the exchange. Her captivity didn't matter. All she could think about was that Ash had come for her. "You came," she spoke, her head resting on Ash's shoulder. "Thank you."

"Of course I came," Ash responded from what sounded like everywhere to Serena. "I was never going to leave you to deal with this by yourself. I would never give up on you, Serena."

It occurred to Serena as the hug she had initiated ended that she had been hoping that Ash would come for her, despite what she had told herself. _If he's going to be here, I have to explain everything to him._ When the two fully separated, she immediately began speaking, ignoring the looks she was getting from the body guards. "Ash, you have to know that I didn't do anything that they said that I did-" she started, but Ash interrupted her by handing her a poké ball.

Serena stared at the ball in confusion, only to gasp when she realized that she was holding Braixen's poké ball. She switched her gaze to Ash, not daring to ask the question that the ball demanded be asks. Ash slowly nodded and flashed her his trademark smile. "I know. I took care of it," he explained vaguely yet firmly.

With a trembling hand, Serena placed Braixen's poké ball in her vest pocket. "The other poké balls and your bag are waiting for you in the front room. If you're ready, we can go now," he explained, motioning towards the door.

In the midst of her elation, Serena happened to glance over and notice that the criminal with a mark on his face had risen and moved to the bars of his cell. She stopped herself from expressing her gratitude to Ash to stare curiously at the former body guard. Ash followed her gaze and his expression hardened when he found the source of her gaze. Even the police in the room took mild interest in the spontaneous stare down as the silence in the room grew. "You lied about Serena being your boss," Ash finally spoke angrily.

The man threw his head back and laughed. "I did, did I? That might be true, in a sense. If you had known what was really happening, though, you wouldn't have wasted your time trying to free one innocent person."

Ash's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded angrily.

The larger former body guard rose. "What it means, kid, is that you're wasting your time. I thought that was pretty obvious," he sneered.

One of the cops looked sharply at the two prisoners. "You know what we told you two about talking out of line. Be quiet or we'll quiet you," the man warned, his hand hovering over a poké ball.

Both prisoners sighed and relented, retreating to their bench in the cell. Ash continued to stare at them, an argument brewing in his head against the prisoners. Serena realized that she needed to get Ash out before he started a fight that got them all in trouble. "Ash, come on. They're right about one thing: we have better things to do than hang around here with them," she whispered quietly and urgently.

Ash tore his gaze away from the jailbirds and took in Serena's insistent face. He shot one more angry look at the prisoners and then turned his full attention to Serena. "Alright. Let's go. Jenny will explain exactly what's going on to you and everyone outside."

The pair made their way to the door and exited into the main room of the police station. As Ash had promised, Serena's bag, along with her pokémon and her town map, lay on the table, waiting for her. Without consideration for the rest of the room, Serena practically jumped over to the table to claim her items. This time, she took extreme caution to ensure that all of her possessions were indeed with her before she proceeded to claim them. Ash moved over to the door and stood by officer Jenny, whom Serena only noticed after she had collected her items. Jenny was staring at her with a conflicted expression adorning her face. The jubilation that Serena had been privately experiencing became slightly muddled when faced with Jenny's expression. She tilted her head to the officer to let her see the confusion that she was experiencing. Jenny almost copied her expression, then recognized its source and lost all emotion on her face. "Serena," she began stiffly, "You should know that I can't afford to completely trust you. If it wasn't for Ash providing strong reasonable doubt for the evidence presented against you, I wouldn't be doing this. Keep in mind when we step out these doors that you're extremely lucky Ash was here to allow you to step outside at all," she explained ominously.

Serena tilted her head. _I already know how lucky I am that I have Ash._ she thought as she nodded in understanding to Jenny. Arf barked excitedly at her and abandoned her spot at Jenny's side to run around Serena in circles, wagging its tail. Jenny sighed to herself while Serena smiled and laid a gentle hand on Arf's fur. "I suppose you can thank Arf, if you wish," Jenny added reluctantly, already heading out the door.

After giving the little fire type a gracious thanks, Serena stepped forward and joined Ash's side as she stepped out of the police station. The second she did so, audible gasps were heard from several places around her. Once her eyes had finally adjusted to the afternoon light, Serena looked around to see most of their group standing in awe of her. The only exceptions to this shock were Clemont, Calem, and Eusine. Clemont was smiling like he had been expecting Serena for some time, Eusine was clearly irritated, and tapped his foot constantly, and while Calem was smiling, the way he was directly staring at Serena made her uncomfortable, and she wondered privately if he was really happy to see her. _Thinking about it, it doesn't look like most of them are happy to see me._ The semi circle that had formed to surround the police station was losing its numbers of people who were confused and was gaining frustrated faces just as quickly. Aside from Clemont, Ash, Sawyer, and Bonnie, who was jumping up and down excitedly, to the point where Clemont had to hold her back, nobody was smiling genuinely. She felt an arm grip her shoulder firmly, and she glanced to her left to see officer Jenny address everyone. "Alright. I heard what you all had to say, and I decided to release Serena on the basis of lack of evidence against her," she announced.

"What happened to all the evidence you had not two hours ago?!" blurted out Trevor indignantly. Several murmurs of agreement imitated his question.

Jenny held up a hand for silence. "The evidence we previously had was cast in enough reasonable doubt to warrant the release of the suspect. I understand that some of you are disappointed by this outcome, and I promise you that we are still fully devoted to catching the true criminal. As such, Serena will not be allowed to leave your group until this investigation has concluded. If you must split up, she will go with Clemont, who will be responsible for keeping her in the group. I'd give you a police escort, but I don't have the men to provide you with one. In any case, she doesn't leave your sight. Are we clear?" She swept her piercing gaze around the group.

Tierno shook his head. "I refuse to believe that you scraped together enough evidence to discredit whatever we found against her," Tierno insisted vehemently.

Jenny frowned. "This is my decision, not yours, Tierno. If you want to make decisions, go to a police academy and become trained to be a police officer. Better yet, go be a gym leader, that's faster."

With a scoff, Tierno turned away and refused to continue the conversation. Clemont looked away at the last comment, distracting him long enough for Bonnie to wrangle herself out of the gym leader's grasp. The young girl sprinted over to Serena and grabbed her hands, shaking them up and down while she jumped in place. "Serena! Don't listen to them. I knew you were innocent! You're the nicest person ever!" she praised with an innocent voice.

Despite herself, Serena smiled at the girl. There were few alternatives to receiving praise from someone like Bonnie. Jenny removed her hand from Serena's shoulder. "Alright. Now that these rules have been established, we still have a criminal to catch. After thinking about it, I have decided against the route of privacy. All our available units, as well as all of you, will be going to the shrine tonight to support Diantha should she need assistance. The possibility of the criminal having already found the shrine is too great to ignore," she explained slowly.

To Serena's surprise, Eusine seemed far more upset about that piece of information than he had about seeing Serena herself. Even Calem's vague smile melted into an unmistakable frown. "That is incredibly unwise, officer. I urge you to reconsider, especially considering the doubt plaguing several members of our party regarding their innocence in this whole ordeal," implored Eusine.

Jenny snapped her head over to Eusine. "I didn't give you all a choice. The fact of the matter is, if I force you all to go together, then I know where you all are. Whoever leaves this group now should be treated as the prime suspect or suspects. This includes AZ and team rocket. I need some time to gather my men and distribute them so that the festival will have protection while our main force moves on the shrine. We'll worry about the legal stuff you have to sign swearing to keep the shrine's location secret later. In the meantime, I fully expect all of you to be tracking down AZ and team rocket as a unit. You need to be back here right before sunset. Use the time to prepare to meet whoever is really behind this," she ordered coldly and bluntly.

Unrest rippled across the group like a wave. Even Serena could sense several flaws in the officer's plan. Regardless of the group staying together, if one of them was the culprit, then they had just been promised access to the shrine for essentially nothing. To her surprise, Trevor was the first to speak up on the situation. "Alright, officer. We understand, and we all promise to continue to work to solve this crime as efficiently as possible," he spoke persuasively.

While she raised an eyebrow, Jenny elected not to comment. Calem picked up the lull in conversation. "Jenny knows everything, got it. We know she isn't perfect, guys, so let's just to our best to make up for her lapse in judgement."

The cop certainly took offense to that remark. "You chose to waste your time telling me why I should do nothing instead of giving me tangible testimony or evidence to force me to do so. That's your mistake if you don't like the outcome, Calem," she remarked harshly.

Calem shrugged. "I told you how I felt. That's what you wanted. My point of the possibility of one of us being the true culprit here still stands as very feasible."

Even though Clemont had brought up the issue several times before, hearing Calem openly address the potential betrayal so casually made everyone visibly uncomfortable. Bonnie slowly let go of Serena's hands and retreated to Clemont's side dejectedly. Nobody met another person's gaze for a moment. Clemont finally looked to Jenny. "Officer, I will ensure that nobody leaves our group alone. To my knowledge, we all have the same goal you do of ensuring that the champion and Suicune are protected. Until you lead us to the shrine, I promise-"

Jenny raised a hand, cutting Clemont off. "It's become clear to me now that you all don't trust each other. I can't bring you along with me if some of you aren't willing to cooperate, and I refuse to allow you to split up. I really don't need to deal with your arguing while I'm trying to keep the face of our region safe. That in mind, I think the best course of action is for you all to locate AZ and team rocket. If you can bring them in to me before dusk, and I don't see any more of the mistrust you're all harboring when you do, I'll consider allowing you to help guard the champion. The alternative is all of you waiting this whole thing out in the police station. I can't take the matter of selecting people to help me protect Diantha lightly." Kathi Lee winced.

Clemont met her gaze evenly. "We will do what we can to locate AZ and team rocket. You have my word," he spoke without any real emotion.

"You make sure you hold up your end of the bargain and let us protect Suicune," Eusine added, almost in a sullen tone.

Jenny shot him a glance. "I'm going to do what is best for the region. Do what I asked you to do, and I'll consider your request." Without another word, Jenny turned on her heel and reentered the police station with Arf, leaving everyone standing around in varying degrees of anger and confusion.

"We don't have a lot of time to find AZ and team rocket," commented Ash, punctuating the silence. "Does anyone have any idea where AZ could be?"

Several pairs of eyes turned to Calem. He glanced around, in modest surprise. "What, you think I would know where the big lug is? He's probably out picking flowers for all I know. The best help I can give you is that he's probably in the forest somewhere," he spoke, waving a hand dismissively.

"I'm not sure looking for anyone is our best move," spoke Trevor ominously. "As long as Jenny doesn't give anyone access to the shrine and we stay here, the odds of the criminal finding the shrine decrease significantly." He stared directly at Serena as he spoke.

Serena met Trevor's stare. Something about the open mistrust her friends showed her gave her the moxie to face them head on. "You can throw around whatever accusations you want, Trevor. We have the same goal, and if you aren't willing to help track down people who are just as entangled in this mess as we are, then you're the one helping the criminal," she said.

Trevor actually seemed taken aback by the statement. he looked to Tierno for help, but the trainer shrugged apologetically. "I'd love to argue that, man, but even if it is her, we could get in trouble for not doing what Jenny tells us to do by finding AZ and team rocket," he said apologetically.

"Also, I'd like to chat with AZ again anyways," added Clemont. "We still don't have an explanation for the lie he told us about what happened the night of the attack."

Calem clapped his hands together. "Great! Let's head for the forest then. The old coot can't hide forever. We'll cut through town square," he decided for everyone.

There was no argument. It had almost become an unspoken agreement between everyone that Calem made the best decisions regarding where they would go next. While Serena obviously still looked to Ash as a leader, she couldn't help but admire how commanding Calem's presence could be if he so wished. Ash and Clemont walked on either side of Serena as the group finally left the police station behind. Sawyer and Kathi Lee kept Bonnie company while Eusine and Calem spoke quietly, which struck Serena as odd, considering their lack of cooperation together in the past. Shauna stood near Calem, while Trevor and Tierno kept to themselves, occasionally looking towards Serena with malice. _I wish they wouldn't despise me for something I didn't do._ she thought. _They weren't this openly mistrusting of Sawyer..._

Ash had followed Serena's gaze, and he smiled at the performer. "Serena, just ignore them. They'll get over it when we find the real culprit," he promised.

"I know that," Serena muttered. She wanted to add something, realizing that even she didn't think she sounded convincing, but no words came to her. "How did you convince Jenny that the evidence against me was faked?" she asked, electing to change the subject.

Dropping his concern for a moment, Ash place a hand on the back of his neck sheepishly. "Oh, well I just knew when I found out that the evidence included your signature that you had two signatures, so I could probably disprove it with that," he responded. "Clemont is the one you really need to thank. If he hadn't stepped up to attempt to control the investigation, I wouldn't have been able to talk to Jenny in the first place."

Serena turned to Clemont. "You really tried to take over the investigation just for me? You're so kind, Clemont! I can't thank you enough!" she said gratefully.

The inventor blushed a little. "Now, come on, I don't deserve that kind of praise, Ash. I was just doing what anyone else would do for their friends. It also gave me the chance to see exactly who our real friends are." He lowered his voice as Trevor shot another angry glance their way. "I convinced officer Jenny to tell me what everyone else said regarding Serena's innocence. The answer wasn't positive."

A shiver ran down Serena's spine. "How many of them spoke in support for me?" she asked with a forced normal tone.

Clemont motioned to Bonnie, Ash and himself. "Aside from us, just Shauna and Sawyer," he revealed in a hushed tone.

Serena's heart dropped. Learning that Shauna hadn't turned her back on her friend didn't help. It was like discovering only half of her home had been destroyed in a fire rather than the entire thing. _Tierno, Sawyer, Calem, even Kathi Lee... I thought I could trust them. How could they do this to me?_ "I don't feel safe here," she whispered suddenly, her voice sounding as small as she felt.

"We won't let anything happen to you, Serena!" Bonnie promised adamantly.

Serena turned to the girl, expecting to see the youthful innocence to the greater problems at hand that Bonnie commonly exhibited, but instead she was met with a determined gaze, one unlike any Serena had seen on Bonnie before. It was possible, she supposed, that their situation was forcing Bonnie to mature prematurely, to evolve from ignorance of their situation's magnitude to callous acceptance of it. The thought disturbed her, and she shook herself. _This is Bonnie, not a hardened battler. Keep your head together._ Ending her silent chastising of herself, Serena smiled at the girl. "Thank you Bonnie," she said with a more normal voice. "I guess my point is that, if I can't trust these people to vouch for me, then how can I trust them not to attack me while we're looking for AZ and team rocket?" she asked.

Ash frowned. "As wrong as Tierno and the others are, they won't directly attack you unless we give them a reason to, and even if they do, I would never let them succeed if they tried to so much as lay a finger on you without your permission," he swore solemnly.

Ash's response was flattering, and Serena wanted to tell him as such, but a thoughtful look that brewed on Clemont's face gave her pause. The boy stopped walking. "Maybe we should give them a reason," he mused aloud.

The other three people in the group stared at Clemont incredulously. "Are you kidding?" Serena asked incredulously, forgetting to lower her voice. "That's a terrible idea! Why would I give them another reason to suspect me?" she spoke angrily.

Several heads turned towards the commotion. Only Sawyer and Kathi Lee, who had began speaking quietly when Bonnie left them to join her brother, took little interest in the proceedings. Everyone had stopped moving. Clemont swept his gaze around to see everyone. "Is it fair to say that we don't trust each other?" he asked

There were vigorous nods of ascension from both sides. Even Calem nodded with a shrug, causing Shauna to punch him in the arm. "What of it? We can still catch AZ and team rocket without trusting each other, since you all seem so insistent on doing so," Calem spoke.

Clemont pointed to Serena. "Several of you believe that Serena is guilty to some degree. If she were to leave the group now, you would try to stop her, or at least run to the police station to alert officer Jenny. Am I wrong?" he asked generally.

Tierno stepped forwards aggressively. "What are you and Serena planning?" he demanded suspiciously.

Sawyer and Kathi Lee finally took notice of the situation and joined the group's side in facing Clemont. Serena glanced at the inventor. "Clemont, I appreciate your help, but I'm not sure that this is a good idea-" The performer quieted with a silencing hand gesture from Ash. Now she was genuinely baffled. _Did Clemont and Ash actually plan for this? How? When?_

Clemont smirked to his friends and his audience. "I'm planning to get us all to the shrine. Even if one of us is the criminal, we can all agree that we want to go to the shrine, either to stop the criminal or to be the criminal. I don't know if the rest of you noticed, but officer Jenny didn't seem very inclined to let us go to the shrine, even if we found team rocket and AZ." He paused in his speech as several people reluctantly nodded.

Eusine waved his hand impatiently. "We're listening, gym leader. State this plan of yours, and make sure you include a very good reason for why we should go to the shrine rather than stay here and keep potential criminals away from it."

"I believe that the only way for us to guarantee that officer Jenny grants us access to the shrine is if she has both good reason to believe that none of us are guilty and a desire for help in defending the shrine. Both of these will be provided for us if Serena escapes into the forest. Best case scenario, we all go to the shrine and stop the criminal this evening, and worst case scenario, we have to stop one of our own. Either way, our goals are accomplished," he finished, silencing himself in acceptance of the inevitable complaints.

"Why can't we just find team rocket and AZ?" Kathi Lee asked. "Not that I don't trust you guys, but going behind the back of the police doesn't seem like the best move here," she protested nervously.

Clemont sighed and readjusted his glasses. He hadn't cleaned them in a few days, and their traditional glint that occasionally hid his eyes had become unnaturally dull. "As much as I'd enjoy doing this by the book, we can't afford it. If we had the time, I would be running this investigation myself anyways. Ash, how long do you think it would take us to track down team rocket?" he asked, facing the trainer.

Ash frowned and placed a hand on his chin in contemplation. "I don't know. I don't usually go after them when they're not trying to take Pikachu from me. I know they can cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time because of how far we blast them off, and that they like to disguise themselves, but that's about it," he admitted.

Clemont nodded to himself. "And Calem, since you know AZ the best, have you ever managed to find him in the woods by yourself?" he inquired.

A broken smile framed Calem's face as he shrugged in defeat. "You got me there. I know the giant loves his forests, but I've never found him when he doesn't want to be found. I swear he's actually a ninja. A really big, really old ninja," he responded.

"Then I think we can agree that finding and convincing both team rocket and AZ to come back to the station will be nearly impossible to do in our given time frame. This in mind, the best course of action for all of us to take would be to force another situation upon Jenny, one she isn't prepared for." He pointed to Serena. "Jenny fully expects us to be able to prevent Serena from leaving, and under normal circumstances this would be the case. However, what if someone were to help her?" He shifted his finger to Ash.

Ash didn't flinch. He had clearly been expecting this. "If you're suggesting that I leave with Serena to make it look like I was the one that let her escape, I can do that," he spoke casually, like he wasn't suggesting committing a crime.

Trevor frowned. "The problem with that plan is that we still think Serena committed the crime. How can you expect us to let her go when-"

"How can you expect to stop her if you're not at the shrine?" countered Clemont before Trevor could finish. "Even if she stayed here, even if she was the true culprit as you claim, then we'd be ignoring the threat of the two body guards that got away. You've seen the handiwork of these people. Do you want to risk leaving them to have their way with a weakened champion?" he asked with a twinge of anger.

While Trevor opened his mouth to argue, no words came out. Eusine decided to speak up. "The plan is sound. The one criminal shouldn't be able to overpower all of us, and I think Trevor is forgetting that, if Serena leaves our group now, she will not be made privy to the shrine's location, assuming she has no knowledge of it already. I do not like this plan, but the thought of leaving Suicune to defend itself against an unknown force leaves too bitter a taste in my mouth to be ignored. Would that not be enough to placate you?" he asked with feigned politeness.

Trevor looked between everyone. "Makes sense to me," Calem commented uselessly.

Shauna immediately nodded in agreement with Calem, while Tierno placed a hand on Trevor's shoulder. "I know how you feel, dude, but they have a point. This gets Serena out of the way and lets us be there to defend the champion. What more could you want?" he asked with just a hint of mirth.

"We don't know if Jenny will trust us after letting Serena slip away... This could just be some elaborate plan by them to help Serena..." Trevor mumbled in a vain attempt to stick by his reasoning.

Clemont shook his head. "You don't understand that we're on your side, Trevor. Jenny will let us go to the shrine, and if she doesn't we'll convince her to change her mind. This plan helps everyone, not just Serena. Her name gets cleared as long as we prevent the real criminal from getting away. Kathi Lee, we'll need your authority to pursue the champion, of course," he spoke, eyeing the secretary carefully.

Kathi Lee seemed to be surprised that she was being addressed, but she nodded quickly. "Oh, of course! Diantha is my top priority, and this many people will definitely keep her safe. She can't take care of herself properly in her current state," she spoke with practiced efficiency.

Of all people, Sawyer spoke next while Clemont smiled at the woman. "We have a few hours until dusk. When are we going to put this plan into action?" he asked, looking to Clemont.

"It happens now," declared Trevor, causing everyone to jump in shock at the anger in his tone. "I refuse to acknowledge that I have any part in this plan. If the rest of you intend to let him go, so be it. I'm reporting to officer Jenny that Serena got away now. You have five minutes to run," he warned before taking off back in the direction of the police station, ignoring the calls from Shauna and Tierno to stop.

Calem watched him go in amusement. "I think that's Trevor's way of agreeing to the plan without hurting his pride. You two might want to get out of here," he suggested casually.

Serena raised an eyebrow at the group. "None of you have a problem with me and Ash leaving?" she asked, slightly incredulous.

"I certainly have a problem with you leaving," spoke Eusine in frustration. "However, the benefits of your flight far outweigh the potential ramifications, and it appears we have little choice in the matter now."

Bonnie turned excitedly to Serena. "You heard them! You two have to get out of here before the police show up!" she exclaimed.

Serena turned to Ash, who had withdrawn a poké ball and released Greninja. He flashed Serena his trademark smile, only to return to deadly seriousness in an instant. "Greninja, I need you to fake a battle with everyone to make it look like you fought them off so Serena and I could escape. As soon as you see the police, you need to run and come find me. Do you understand? This is a staged battle, not a real one," he explained carefully.

Greninja's eyes were closed while Ash spoke, and it continued to contemplate the order for a precious moment longer before it opened its eyes and nodded once. "Gren."

Calem and Sawyer released their grass type starters. "We know what to do," spoke Sawyer with confidence. "We'll make sure to catch that criminal for you guys."

Ash thanked Sawyer while Calem merely nodded in agreement with Sawyer's words. While the plan didn't feel solid, Trevor hadn't given them much of a choice. She was about to tell Ash that they needed to leave when she felt Clemont lean close to her. "Listen, don't talk. I spoke with Bonnie while Ash was gathering evidence to save you, and she said that Dedenne picked up a faint signal from Pikachu somewhere downriver. It couldn't send a signal back because Pikachu's electricity has a wider range than Dedenne's. Ash doesn't know yet. I didn't want him to have to choose between helping you and looking for Pikachu. If you find it, send Dedenne a signal and we'll let you know where the shrine is," he whispered quickly and urgently.

The plan impressed Serena. _Clemont actually did think of nearly everything in a short time. I can't believe he's going this far to catch a criminal and help me. Ash too. I don't have time to be thinking about it though._ She realized that Ash was staring at her and Clemont, head tilted. "Didn't you want to leave, Serena?" he asked with a suppressed urgency in his tone.

Serena noticed that most people were staring at her exchange. With a barely perceptible nod to Clemont, she put on the determined smile she usually reserved for performing. "Let's go," she spoke to Ash before taking off for the town square, the opposite direction of the police station.

After exchanging one more brief word with Greninja and Sawyer, Ash followed his childhood friend. Serena's backpack thumped comfortingly against her back as she threaded through the small crowds of people towards the river, her destination. Said crowds were at first annoyed by her forceful movement, and then they were completely distracted by the battle between Greninja, Spike and Sceptile that she heard erupt behind her. Amidst the noise of the battle, she heard the sound of shoes pumping on the ground behind her, and stole a glance at her crush as he pursued her with determination glinting in his eyes. It strangely resembled the determination she had seen in Calem's eyes while he battled. Even though she knew she was technically running away as a fugitive, she couldn't help but revel in the fact that her crush was chasing her at the moment. _Curse my fantasies for taking place when I can't even enjoy them,_ she thought to herself bitterly. Her own legs, still sore from her previous sprints, again began to complain at the strain placed on them. Serena ignored them and pressed on. The crowds continued to grow in size as they left the growing battle behind and the number of stalls increased. It became increasingly difficult to maneuver, and more than once Serena nearly barreled over a random person. The third time she almost ran over a small boy, she forced herself to the side so quickly that she lost her footing and began to tumble to the ground. Before she could meet her painful fate, however, a hand snatched her arm and pulled her back carefully yet firmly, leaving Serena standing just an inch or two from Ash's face. The boy's hardened expression softened slightly. "Come on," he spoke, releasing her hand when he was sure of her footing and taking the lead in their flight.

Serena apologized quickly to the boy and took off, her position reversed in the chase. As they neared town square, Serena realized that Ash had no knowledge of her intentions. _He'll just take the quickest route out to the forest,_ she realized. Pumping her legs harder, she moved to run beside Ash, making their task of maneuvering around people all the more difficult. "Ash!" she exclaimed through gasping breaths. "Head... downriver!" she managed to get out.

Ash threw her a confused glance. It baffled Serena how he could have no issues running this fast for this long over the past several days, no matter how long he had been travelling. Despite his questioning look, the boy nodded to indicate his understanding. "I told Greninja to take the quickest route into the forest. He'll sense that I went somewhere else."

While wondering if there was any truth to Ash's statement, Serena and the trainer reached town square. Per Serena's direction, Ash took a hard right just before the bridge, startling a woman who complained about young people to nobody in particular. Serena apologized to her and continued her sprint, following Ash down a narrow street between shops and the river itself. As they exited the town square, the loudspeakers wired around the square roared to life, playing the jingle that indicated an announcement. "If anyone has seen a Greninja without a trainer recently, please report it to the local authorities," spoke the harried voice of officer Jenny.

Serena frowned. Had it been five minutes already? _How did Trevor find out about the Greninja plan to warn officer Jenny? I guess she's just trying to get people to look for us without letting them know they're looking for a fugitive. They probably just assume Greninja is a lost pokémon._ Ash was clearly thinking the same thing as he looked upwards briefly towards the loudspeaker. "They know we're on the run. We should be able to get out of town before they find us though," he spoke reassuringly.

Taking Ash's words to heart, Serena forced herself to continue running. The crowds began to thin out and the road widened as they neared the edge of town. The river itself began to flow faster as its bank shifted from concrete to dirt with the changing surface of the path surrounding it. Just as they were about to reach the edge of town and find sanctuary in the forest, Ash gasped and yanked Serena back, pulling them both into a small alleyway between the two shops on the edge of town, away from the town exit. Serena turned to yell at Ash for nearly killing her, but he placed a finger on his lips and pointed behind her. She turned to see a police officer standing guard at the river with an arcanine, clearly waiting for them to turn up. He was staring directly at the river, which might have contributed to the small miracle that he hadn't noticed their noisy approach. Jenny must have expected them to try to use the river to escape. She couldn't think how the cop could have responded so quickly, but then she remembered that several policemen were already monitoring the festival and were now looking for the water type Greninja. She heard Ash mutter angry, incoherent words. "We should have found a less obvious way to leave town," he spoke.

Even though he hadn't called her out, Serena felt guilt at the remark. She glanced behind Ash, and felt her heart sink at the sight of a dead end. They were stuck between a cop and a wall. "We can't risk running back into town. We have to get past him," Ash muttered, glaring at the cop for some sort of exploitable weakness.

"Can't we just make a run for it?" Serena asked. She didn't really want to attack a cop, lest they get into some real trouble.

Ash shook his head. "If that arcanine doesn't know extreme speed, then I'm a slowpoke."

Given a lighter moment, Serena might have actually teased Ash about the remark. Instead, she frowned. "I guess battling him would take too long?" she presumed.

Ash nodded. "We need to divert that arcanine's attention somehow. I'd like it if he never saw us."

It was rather infuriating to Serena how one guard was ruining their perfectly thrown-together and barely thought out plan. The arcanine stared intently at the water, clearly looking for Greninja. She glanced around their small alley for anything they could possibly use to help them get around the cop. The alley they had randomly selected to hide in contained little other than a garbage bin for each of the stores on their left and right. One of the stores had to be a bakery because of the various ruined pastries discarded in the bin. An idea started to brew in Serena's mind. She peeked out of the alleyway cautiously. Nobody was around except for the cop. Deeming the area clear of people, she reached into her bag and withdrew the basket containing her poké puffs. Even though she hadn't had time to make many new ones recently, she always kept a few poké puffs specifically for fire types like Braixen on hand for situations where cooking time was scarce. Ash saw the poké puffs and grinned. "Good idea, Serena," Ash praised. "That would keep arcanine busy long enough for us to slip by it. How are we going to get it over there?" he asked, still admiring her creativity.

Serena frowned around her blush at Ash. "Thanks. I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet," she admitted.

Ash stared hard at the three poké puffs Serena happened to have. He brightened suddenly. "I have an idea." He held out a hand expectantly, and Serena placed the basket in his hand complacently.

Testing the weight of the basket in his hand, Ash seemed to make a decision. He withdrew a poké ball from his pocket and released his hawlucha. The pokémon posed proudly at its release and only stopped posing when it realized that it wasn't about to be attacked. Ash placed the fire-type poké puffs in Hawlucha's clawed hands. The pokémon sniffed them and stared at its trainer in confusion, picking up on the fire type nature of the poké puffs. Ash smiled a bit. "They aren't for you, Hawlucha. You see that arcanine out there? I need you to go distract it with those poké puffs. Just get close and pretend you're a wild pokémon that found some poké puffs. Serena's cooking should take care of the rest."

Hawlucha glanced around Ash, at the imposing figure of arcanine. It then glanced at the poké puffs in its hand. It looked to Ash hopefully, and the trainer immediately shook his head. "No, you can't battle that arcanine. You need to run into the forest as soon as you see us slip by that cop. Leave the poké puffs for arcanine. Do you understand, Hawlucha? No battling," he instructed.

Serena knew that was the hardest order for Hawlucha to follow. A massive battle was being waged in Hawlucha's mind, and it occurred to Serena how eager all of Ash's pokémon always were for battle. It spoke to Ash's ability as a trainer that they were willing to defy their personal instincts for him. Hawlucha saluted its trainer in acknowledgement of its orders. It then darted forward and leapt effortlessly over the river, landing with nearly no noise. Serena wondered if Hawlucha had picked up on some movement tips from Greninja. Ash stood poised to run at the edge of the alley, and Serena joined him. "Come on, Hawlucha," he murmured. "You can do it."

Hawlucha approached the cop and the fire type stealthily, neither man nor pokémon having looked up to notice Hawlucha due to the lack of noise it made. Suddenly though, the nose of the arcanine began to twitch, and it perked up, staring directly at Hawlucha as it was trying to make its way into the tree line. The pokémon tensed up as arcanine continued to sniff the air, and Serena felt terror course through her for Ash's pokémon. Ash himself, however, remained calm. "This will work," he told Serena. "Get ready."

Serena's muscles obeyed without hesitation. She trusted Ash completely with her actions, and poised herself to run. Hawlucha, recovering from its panic at being discovered, thought on its feet and started to back away slowly, indicating that it didn't want to give away the poké puffs. The cop spoke something to his pokémon, but clearly whatever police training that the arcanine had received was ineffective against hunger. The arcanine surged forward with a howl, and Hawlucha's eyes widened in panic as it was tackled by the fire type. the poké puffs it was holding went flying into the air behind it, and Arcanine leapt at them with fervor while its trainer tried to wrangle it. Ash motioned to Serena. "Now!" he hissed.

The pair took off, sprinting downriver and towards the trees and the safety of the forest. Ignoring her previous runs, Serena sprinted for her life. There was no hope if the cop noticed them. She practically dived into the bushes, ignoring the scratching foliage that greeted her along with concealment. Ash was right by her side, and the two turned to see if the officer had noticed their departure. Fortunately, they turned back to a scene of arcanine lapping up poké puff crumbs from the ground while Hawlucha carefully made its way into the forest, unnoticed by cop or pokémon. Serena wanted to cheer, but the desire to get out of their situation overrode her elation. She exchanged a nod with Ash before the two continued their trek downriver, moving as swiftly as they could while trying to remain silent enough that arcanine couldn't hear them. When they felt it was safe, Ash signaled to Hawlucha and returned his pokémon. Since it was safe to return Hawlucha, Serena decided that it was safe to walk out in the open, and she stepped out of the trees and undergrowth, grateful for the freedom of movement the change provided. Ash joined her and stared down the river, which had slowly begun to increase in current speed. "Serena, that was quick thinking, using the poké puffs. It wouldn't have worked if your poké puffs weren't so attractive to fire types, too," he praised unabashedly.

Serena allowed herself a blush untarnished by her frown or negative connotation in her countenance. "I was just trying to help," she spoke humbly.

Ash grinned. "Well, you did a great job, in any case." He surveyed the area further, focusing on the river. "We're moving in the opposite direction of the shrine. I know we can't find it by following the river the other way, but shouldn't we at least try to be close to the shrine, if they need our help?" Ash asked.

Remembering that Ash didn't know of this part of Clemont's plan, she smiled to herself as she recognized the role that Clemont had handed her for the first time. She pulled out her flask of water and filled it casually, reveling in the moment that she had created for herself. Ash continued to stare at her in confusion. "Serena? Did you hear me? Why did you want to go down-river?" he interrogated.

Taking a long sip of water, Serena smiled coyly at Ash. "Well, when Clemont was whispering to me just before we took off, he told me that Dedenne had picked up on Pikachu's electrical signal from somewhere down river, so he told me that we should head out here to go find Pikachu," she revealed with excitement tainting her voice.

At the usage of Pikachu's name, Ash immediately perked up. "Seriously?! We have to find Pikachu then! We can use Pikachu's connection with Dedenne to find the shrine!" he spoke excitedly.

Serena shared in his mirth, and the boy looked around him, as if he expected Pikachu to jump out at him from everywhere at once. "We don't know exactly where Pikachu is, though," Serena pointed out. "We'll have to look around."

For the first time in a while, Ash had returned to his normal, cheery self, unburdened by any concern at the thought of reuniting with his partner. "We'll just search everywhere, then. I'm sure Pikachu is out there somewhere!" he insisted to himself more than to Serena.

The pair became adventurous, exploring the nearby forest area for any signs of Ash's starter pokémon. Nothing they found provided either of them with any evidence of Pikachu's passing, so they made their way further down the river. The noise that the river made slowly began to pick up in volume and intensity as they continued to pass down the river, and Serena was beginning to wonder if they were going to see a waterfall from the river that would explain the noise she was hearing, only for Ash to suddenly pivot on one foot to face Serena from his spot a few steps in front of her as they walked. "I've been meaning to ask..." he started, before cutting himself off. "Actually, never mind. It's not a good time."

Serena's brow furrowed in confusion. It wasn't like Ash to back out of a commitment he made, even if that commitment was just a statement. "Ash, you've done more for me today than anyone else could have. If you have something to ask, please let me answer for you," she insisted.

Ash still appeared to be apprehensive, but he elected to press forward. "Alright then... I was thinking about your chat with Tierno." Serena tensed up immediately, and Ash paused, unsure if he should continue. _Of course he has a question on the topic I really can't talk to him about._ she thought.

"I just wanted to know what it was you two talked about," he asked with innocence in his tone. " I was just wondering because of the way he acted after you talked."

Serena rubbed the back of her neck. She wished she hadn't blown her main stalling tactic toying with Ash. _How am I supposed to tell him the truth here? If I do that, then he'll almost certainly figure out my feelings,_ she mused. "I... do you really need to know?" she asked desperately.

The trainer turned his head away. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to tell me, Serena. I was just curious."

A sigh escaped Serena. _He deserves to know. Besides, maybe I can use this to learn a bit about his past._ "You have a right to know, Ash," she spoke with more confidence than she had. "Tierno wanted to talk to me because he wanted to... confess his feelings to me," she revealed quietly.

The trainer visibly tightened up at the news. "What did you say?" he asked in an even tone that very nearly hid his concern.

Serena looked away. "I told him no. I just didn't feel the same way that he did," she explained.

Ash tilted his head. "How did he feel?" the boy asked.

Serena matched his motion. "What do you mean?" she asked, baffled. "He felt the same way anyone making a confession does. What does that have to do with it?"

Ash grew uncomfortable, and Serena backed off to allow him to speak. "I'm sorry, I just don't understand what you're implying here. Did you tell Tierno you didn't want to be his friend anymore or something?" he wondered aloud.

Serena wanted to punch a tree. _Ho_ _w can he not understand what a confession is?!_ she yelled to herself. "Ash, a confession is a when you tell someone that you... really like that you like them a lot. It's supposed to convey a desire of something... more than friendship," she explained vaguely, not really wanting to be the one that had to explain this to Ash.

With a confused look, Ash responded. "So how do you know you have the feelings to confess to someone?" he asked.

The blush on Serena's cheeks grew exponentially with the question. She was playing a very dangerous game here. "Ash, that's not something I can explain to you. You just sort of... feel it. There's no secret battle strategy to this sort of thing," she spoke in a completely forced calm.

There was a pause as Ash collected his thoughts. "I... think I get it. Do you have those feelings, Serena?" he asked bluntly.

Serena's entire body stiffened. Ash seemed oblivious to exactly how discomforting that question was to the performer. _I can't answer that!_ "Of course," Serena responded. "We all have those feelings at some point for somebody." _This might be my only chance to change the topic on him._ "Have you... ever had feelings for any of your previous travel companions?" Serena asked, feeling like she was pulling the pin out of a grenade.

Ash again tilted his head. "I don't think so. You said I'd recognize it if someone felt like that about me or I felt like that about them," he pointed out.

The temptation to ask about Ash's current travel companion was very strong, but Serena held herself back. She couldn't ask that question. She wasn't brave enough. She instead remembered the stories she had heard about Misty, of May and Dawn, and how Ash had missed any attempts they may had made at trying to get him to notice them. _It's so annoying, and it's so adorable at the same time... enough. I have to stop this. I can't be another substitute._ "Do you even know what that answer would do to some of those companions if they heard it?" she demanded suddenly and sharply.

Ash backed away slightly. "They...wouldn't like it?" he ventured.

Serena threw her hands up in the air. "If your obliviousness wasn't so cute, I would have tried to do something about it a long time ago," she admitted in unthinking anger to the trainer.

"Thanks?" he responded with a questioning tone.

Serena sighed. He hadn't noticed the meaning behind her comment, and she had barely learned anything new about Ash. It wasn't like she expected him to be aware of feelings like this. She took heart in the fact that she would force herself to tke the chance to tell him how she really felt another time. "Maybe you're right, Ash. This might not be the best time for this conversation. We should focus on finding Pikachu," she decided.

Ash started to nod, only to gasp in shock at something behind Serena. She whipped around and nearly panicked herself when she saw AZ standing behind her, only a few meters away. He was poised uncertainly on the edge of the forest, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to be seen or not. When Ash called attention to him, he straightened up a bit. Several questions ran through Serena's mind, several accusations that AZ was in fact the culprit they were looking for, but AZ's presence left her struggling to compile an intelligible thought. He regarded the two with caution betrayed in his eyes before speaking, "You are looking for your Pikachu. I have found it for you."


	17. Chapter 17: The Substitute

Ash tensed up. Serena knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. If AZ had Pikachu, it was very likely that he was involved with the crime, and thus was threatening them. A light breeze blew ominously through the area, drawing small ripples out of the water and blowing leaves that formed shadows to dance across AZ's mostly covered face. He had hardened his expression to become unreadable. Serena wanted to take the lead, but she knew it wasn't her pokémon being discussed here. She moved a hand slowly and deliberately to her pocket for a poké ball. AZ noticed the motion. "I do not wish to battle," he rasped. "and I am disturbed by your hesitation and mistrust."

In a gesture of goodwill, Ash placed his hands where AZ could see them, and he motioned for Serena to do the same. "We don't want to battle either," he began evenly, before his tone grew harsher. "But you've told us that you've found Pikachu and you haven't shown us Pikachu. We just want to know where my buddy is."

The forest went silent once more. AZ gestured to the trees. "Even if I wished to hide Pikachu from you, I would have not the means of doing so. I saved the pokémon from drowning in the river, and it happened to find me after I had left it alone. It has no knowledge of who saved it. Your electric type merely left my side to search for food. I presume it has sensed your presence by now and will return shortly. You have need only to wait."

"How can we believe you when you've lied to us several times already?" Serena blurted out. Ash shot Serena a look, but she wasn't about to put up with another person lying to her face. "You still haven't told us the truth about what happened the night of the attack. We know Diantha didn't go into the woods that night!" she exclaimed.

Of all things, AZ sprouted a rueful grin, barely visible behind the scarf on his face. "What source blooms such confidence in your accusation, young one?" he challenged.

"We found that out from Diantha herself. Do you think she would forget an attack like the one she experienced?" Ash asked, going all in now that Serena had made the first accusation.

AZ slowly shook his large head. "Of course not. I simply wasn't speaking to an audience that could hear the truth at the time, and I did not wish to get involved afterwards to explain what I had really seen. The time wasn't ripe."

"So tell us now," insisted Ash. "Why can't you just be honest with us?"

Wind ruffled the man's scarf. "You will react differently when you return to your friends if I do. If I get involved again, people will suffer because of your knowledge," he responded vaguely.

"We aren't going back to our friends," spoke Ash vaguely.

Serena shot Ash a warning glance to try and prevent him from revealing too much, but the look in his eyes implored her to trust him. She relented and allowed Ash to relay the events AZ had missed since he had disappeared to the man. While Ash spoke, with Serena occasionally jumping in to add or correct something, AZ began to finger something dangling from a chain he wore around his neck. If it had been there before, Serena hadn't noticed it. She placed the necklace with the other things she didn't understand about AZ. When he noticed her looking, he quickly concealed the item in his heavy coat. Ash concluded his recap of the information, and AZ regarded the two trainers in front of him carefully. "It is intriguing that you would trust me with this information. Much of it would indicate that I am at fault for the unfortunate fate of the champion," he rumbled.

Ash shrugged. "I like to think the best of people," he responded coolly.

"Had I the humor, I would have laughed at that sort of philosophy," the man grumbled. "As things stand, I think it best I return your expression of loyalty. I can hear your pokémon coming towards us as we speak."

Serena strained her ears, but she received no such auditory signal to indicate Pikachu's presence. Ash strained as well, but also apparently heard nothing. Both trainers turned a confused glance to AZ to ask him what kind of game he was playing when Pikachu padded out of the bushes near AZ, an oran berry in its mouth. The electric type had moved nearly silently, and Serena again wanted to question AZ on his relationship with pokémon, but she knew that the chance would have to wait. Pikachu turned towards its two travelling companions and dropped the oran berry in its mouth. "Pikachu!" exclaimed Ash, the pokémon calling out its own name with similar elation at the same time.

Trainer and pokémon surged towards each other, and Pikachu jumped into Ash's arms and onto his shoulder happily. Ash's smile was positively dazzling as he stroked the electric type gently. For Pikachu's part, it immediately nuzzled Ash from its spot on his shoulder and muttered its name in content. "I missed you buddy. I'm glad you're safe," spoke Ash quietly as a single tear formed in his eye.

Serena's heart melted a bit witnessing the moment. Even AZ looked like he was at least trying to smile. The two enjoyed their reunion in their own private world for a while, during which time Ash rapidly explained the events of the previous days to his partner. They talked so quickly and quietly together that Serena wondered if the pokémon was even comprehending any of the information being fed to it, as its nodding suggested. "That's the bond of man and pokémon matured over years of experience," spoke AZ quietly to Serena.

She turned to the taller man, seizing her chance to question him. "You seem to understand a lot about having bonds with pokémon, AZ. Sylveon is completely comfortable with you, even though it's usually shy around new people. How do you get pokémon to feel so comfortable around you?" she asked.

"I do not do it by choice," the man revealed after a brief hesitation. "What you see is the heritage of a curse that plagues my being. It is a reminder of who I was, a terrible reminder that has followed me through the ages so that I may never forget the circumstances that established my captivity on this world," he explained gruffly.

Serena tilted her head in complete confusion. "That doesn't make any sense. You know that, right? You could have just said that you've spent a lot of time in the forest," she spoke, baffled by AZ's language.

AZ shrugged, and his whole body shuddered with the effort, like a wave reaching its crest as it approached the inevitable shore. "I have precious few ways to express this curse, Serena. In its most basic form, you may interpret it as a friendship with these creatures, yes, though to belittle the effects of such friendship by not addressing the consequences is like describing the power of a pokémon based on how large it is. Other variables must be considered."

The performer gave up. _It's more worth your time just to pursue a straight answer for his knowledge of what happened the night of Diantha's attack._ "Alright, AZ. If you don't want to make sense, that's fine, but we still need to know what you know about the attacks on the first night. I hope you don't want to lie to us anymore, with everything you know," she implored.

"How would you know if I was lying?" asked AZ, seemingly genuinely curious.

The reunion between Ash and Pikachu finally came to its conclusion, and he faced AZ once more, his starter at its place on his shoulder. Serena had nearly forgotten just how used she was to seeing Pikachu with Ash. It wasn't easy to describe, but she almost felt like having Pikachu made Ash whole again, like he wasn't fully dressed in the morning if Pikachu wasn't with him. "We won't, but I don't think you have a reason to lie to us. Pikachu said you were trustworthy," he spoke in place of Serena.

AZ eyed the small pokémon. "So you would base your trust off of the perception of your pokémon?" He paused and allowed Ash to nod. "I will tell you what I know. The interpretation of my words is your own issue."

The response was vague and provided no commitment to telling the whole truth or any of it on AZ's part, but the man gave no indication that he would ere in his intended speech, so Serena decided to rely on Pikachu's good word and her own instincts to determine AZ's candor behind his words. "The night the champion was attacked, I was not a witness to the attack, nor was I in town. I only became involved because a man, the one you call Eusine, happened into the forest that night. He passed me by without becoming privy to my presence, and he dropped several items as he passed. Those items were Diantha's mega stone and the indecipherable note I gave you during our previous meeting." He paused to collect his thoughts and clear his throat. "I felt... compelled to return the man's dropped items to him. When I made my way back to town, the police presence I witnessed caused me to believe that my items may have been stolen. I passed the mega stone, knowing its value, on to the first traveler on the road that I found, this being Sawyer. The paper felt irrelevant. I hoped that the stone would find its true owner, but I still didn't wish to be involved. This is the truth."

In the silence that followed the conclusion of AZ's words, Serena faced a difficult decision. _I want to believe what he's saying. I wanted to believe that Trevor and Tierno would have my back, too._ "Your story seems to point to Eusine as the true culprit here," Ash observed.

"I cast no judgement on the man," AZ spoke. "I only tell you what I saw and did that night."

A contradiction jumped into Serena's mind. "It doesn't make sense for Eusine to have done it. He was one of the biggest advocates for us not going to the shrine. He can't attack Diantha if he's not there to attack her," she pointed out.

Ash contemplated the problem. "Maybe..." he muttered.

"What?" Serena asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ash looked to her. "What if he didn't want us to go to the shrine because he wanted to keep strong trainers like Calem, Tierno and Sawyer away from the shrine? He could teleport away from us using Alakazam's powers whenever he wanted, and if he somehow knew the shrine's location..." he trailed off, searching for a reason Eusine would know the shrine's location.

A gasp of horror and realization reached Serena's mouth as she remembered Eusine's words in the mansion. "Eusine saved the previous mayor's life once. They were good friends. That mayor may have told Eusine where the shrine is," she spoke, giving word to her thoughts as she had them.

"He might have faked the attack on his own secret base, too, since he's the only person who should know where it is," added Ash with a grimace.

Despite the mounting logic behind Eusine's guilt, Serena's memory of the pain she saw in Eusine during their time in the secret base, his whisper of trading a secret for a secret, and the fervor with which he took up the group's motivations after the attack left doubt in her mind. Ash, on the other hand, seemed to have completely convinced himself. "He's been trying to separate us from the beginning. He tried to start with you, and he attacked Calem's friendship offers. I think AZ is telling the truth," he declared.

AZ nodded once to Ash in acceptance of the declaration before adjusting himself to be facing Serena. "Do you believe me as well, Serena?" he asked.

Serena frowned. Things weren't adding up. As suspicious as Eusine was, murder didn't seem to be the sort of thing he would do, even to get Suicune. _Then again, I don't think anyone in our group is capable of such a heinous act,_ she added to herself. "You wonder if Eusine is capable of such acts of violence. I can prove his commitment to you, if you wish," he rumbled ominously.

In spite of herself, Serena instinctively felt her hand groping for a poké ball. She forced herself to speak to get control of her emotions. "Do it," she managed to get out.

Another nod came from AZ, in Ash's direction. "You were wise to keep a pokémon out and on guard for you. I would suggest you take advantage of it now," he intoned to the trainer.

Ash raised an eyebrow, then lowered it. "I guess you heard Pikachu coming before we did as well." He signaled with his hand, and from the low-hanging branches of a nearby tree on the other side of the river, a blur shot into the undergrowth.

While trying to process what was happening, Serena heard the scream of a man and woman before two people were launched into the space between AZ and Ash and Serena from the bush the blur had vanished into, a pokémon visible among them. The trio now clearly identifiable as team rocket complained incoherently on the ground while Serena looked to the bush where Greninja was emerging. _How long has Ash known that Greninja was there? How did they know team rocket was in the bush?_ Her head swam with questions that everyone but her seemed to have answered already. "Am I the only one who didn't know two people and two pokémon were watching us?" she asked aloud.

Sheepishly, Ash turned to Serena and flashed her a grin. "I was going to tell you about Greninja, but I wanted to make sure we could trust AZ first. As for team rocket, well, I'd be more surprised if they weren't following Pikachu," he admitted.

Serena blinked. She threw Jessie, James and Meowth a glance. Jessie stared irritably at Ash. "You'll see how predicable we are when we use our next machine to catch Pikachu!" she boasted proudly.

James and Meowth just sighed and continued to disentangle themselves. When they succeeded, the three of them stood up. "It would have been a perfect plan, too," spoke James regrettably. "Pilfer the Pikachu while the trainer doesn't even know where his precious pokémon is. If Meowth hadn't gotten us lost, we could have been here in time!"

Meowth scoffed. "Hey, I'm a domesticated pokémon! Ya can't blame me fer not knowin wat da difference between a bush and a pokémon is!" it spoke indignantly.

"I believe the three of you know something that would be beneficial for the apprehension of the criminal behind Diantha's suffering," AZ prompted in his gravelly voice.

The trio turned to face AZ and Meowth shrank back a bit. "Meeeowth! Yer a lot bigger from did distance, bud!" it exclaimed, running behind Jessie and James for protection.

Jessie tried to yank Meowth out from behind her leg while James placed a hand on his face. "Team Rocket doesn't discuss its private business with twerps," the man stated firmly.

No matter how many times they said it, the annoyance of the usage of the term twerp to describe Serena and the others irritated her to no end. Ash had clearly accepted the term a long time ago. "So you do know who actually committed the crime," he reasoned carefully.

Jessie nodded, perhaps too eagerly. "Of course. We know everything you want to know, and if you give us Pikachu, then we'll tell you. We promise." She spoke far too sweetly to be genuine.

"They have no knowledge of what happened the night of the incident," spoke AZ, discrediting Jessie's claims. "They know that Eusine offered them something that incriminates him as the perpetuator of violence."

Meowth's eyes narrowed. "How'd you find out about dat, bub?" he asked suspiciously.

"Do you think yourselves the only people an pokémon with spying capabilities?" he growled. "I have been following Eusine from a hidden distance since I separated myself. Not being involved doesn't have to mean that I'm not aware of what's going on."

"What deal did you take with Eusine?" Ash demanded.

Serena stood by his side for intimidation purposes. "This isn't some petty thievery crime here, you three," she added as a warning.

James sighed. "You act like we don't know that. Team rocket has better operations to get involved in than the insane plans of a charlatan," he spoke, speaking down to his audience.

"But what was the deal?" Ash continued to press.

Jessie and James exchanged a look together. They suddenly grew uncomfortable. "Even if you two are fugitives now... telling you means we give up our only bargaining chip," James mused.

"We aren't fugitives!" Serena barked indignantly.

Jessie gave Serena a once-over. "Actually, you are. We heard what you said about not leaving the group. You're criminals now, same as us," she jeered.

Serena cursed the team's hearing. Ash glanced around. "Thinking about it, everyone who left the group is here. That means none of us are at the shrine yet, so at least if one of us did it, Diantha is safe for now," he pointed out.

"Tell them the deal," commanded AZ.

"Or what? You'll talk us to death?" challenged Jessie. "We have things to do, you know."

"I am only asking that you help us prevent Eusine from bringing down team rocket's name with his own. You know he was setting you up from the beginning," spoke AZ in a low persuasive tone.

Jessie and James huddled with Meowth for a moment, pausing only to steal glances at those around them. "Are they going to tell us?" Serena asked Ash.

Ash shrugged. "They might, if they think it will let them steal more pokémon," he reasoned casually.

The response was adequate for Serena, so she turned back to watch team rocket decision making at work. Finally, the huddle broke, and James stepped forward to speak for the group. "We have decided to tell you about Eusine's plan, even though we have refused to accept the plan itself, because not doing so will prevent you all from trusting us later on. Clear?"

Ash and Serena nodded to indicate that they understood. James acknowledged their gestures. "Good. Eusine offered us the chance to destroy several of the town's buildings during the conclusion of the third day of the festival in exchange for a rather large sum of money. We decided not to take the offer, but Eusine doesn't know that," he revealed.

Serena gasped. "Seriously? He tried to bribe you into attacking the town?! And you considered it?!" she practically yelled.

Jessie shrugged. "We aren't heroes, twerp. I'm not sure what you were expecting of us."

"Respect for the lives of people and pokémon?" she asked.

"This ain't a comedy club," spouted Meowth, though there was an edge to his tone that caught Serena's attention. "We're bad guys, not a charity."

"Forget about it, Serena," spoke Ash, placing a hand on her shoulder. "The important thing here is that we know for certain that Eusine is the guilty party here. He knew how to get to the shrine and arranged for the champion and everyone else to be incapacitated or busy with saving the town while he captured Suicune. He must want that pokémon even more desperately than we thought."

Serena pushed her blush aside and focused on team rocket. "Shouldn't we have some evidence of this agreement?" she asked them.

James nodded to Ash. "He knows we aren't lying, don't you twerp?"

"Yeah," admitted Ash. "If they were lying about something as huge as this, I would know. We've battled too often." The tone of his voice carried an air of regret that startled Serena.

The rockets picked up on it as well. "We know you pretty well too, twerp. What are you hiding?" she asked belligerently.

Ash looked up at AZ sharply. "We believe you. What are you going to do now?" he questioned, changing the subject.

AZ turned half away from the group. "I'm going to leave. I have no reason to linger here, now that your Pikachu is returned and the culprit is revealed to you. My involvement ends here." With that statement, he began to stride away into the forest with a sleepy gait that couldn't help but appear intimidating due to the man's size.

Serena raised an eyebrow to Ash. "Are we letting him leave?" she whispered to him.

Ash turned back to her, removing his hand. "Do you think he did it? Or is there some other thing we still need to ask him?"

"I..." Serena's voice fell off. _There's so many questions surrounding him. I don't know if we can trust his words, no matter how suspicious Eusine is. Until I have a better option, though, I don't think we have a choice but to trust him._ "... don't think we have a choice," she finished.

Surprisingly, the answer gave Ash none of the pause she had thought it would. Instead, he grinned at her. "Then it's time we found a way to stop Eusine. Thank you for your help, AZ." The large man waved a hand behind him casually as his only response.

Ash turned to address everyone remaining in the group, allowing AZ to walk away with no further interaction. "Team rocket, I propose a truce. You must want revenge on Eusine for kidnapping Meowth, right?" he persuaded.

The trio regarded their foe quietly. Serena observed both sides carefully. While Ash was hiding his emotions well, Serena could practically see the disappointment that would form on his face should team rocket say no. For team rocket's part, they seemed to be objectively weighing the benefits of their assistance to them. _I have to remember that they're criminals, no matter what sort of bond Ash might have with them after all this time._ Jessie slowly nodded. "You know we love revenge, twerp. There's one condition we have for our help, though," she added.

Serena had expected Jessie to name her condition with her traditional sadistic nature, but she was surprisingly somber. "Name it," responded Ash.

"We want you to have a battle with Sawyer for us, when all of this is done," requested James.

Ash tilted his head in complete confusion. "Wait, what? I mean, sure, but why?"

Serena felt just as befuddled. Jessie turned away. "It's personal. You either agree, or we're out. Understood?" she threatened half-heartedly.

Thinking back to the previous day, Serena remembered how team rocket had protected Sawyer when the others were against him. She supposed that somehow that short time had allowed them to form a bond with the green haired boy. "I agree then. We work together until the champion, suicune, and the town are all safe." He held out a hand, which James shook firmly.

It felt odd to be making a deal with people that had been considering helping their enemy, but Serena knew there wasn't exactly anyone else she could ask for help right now. She just hoped that Clemont, Bonnie and the others would be alright until they could reunite. Thinking of them gave her an idea. She faced Pikachu. "Pikachu, you have to let Dedenne know that Eusine is the real culprit. Bonnie and the others need to know who the real enemy is."

Ash smiled. "That's a good idea. Can you do that, Pikachu?"

The yellow pokémon nodded and hopped off of Ash's shoulders and to the ground. Its cheeks sparked with electricity for a moment as it sent a message out to Dedenne. A tense moment passed while everyone waited to see if Dedenne would respond. Serena was starting to believe that Dedenne still didn't have the range to reach Pikachu still when Pikachu's cheeks again flared up with electricity. The pokémon absorbed these electric waves for a moment before turning to Meowth. "Pikachu pika pika pikachu! Pika pika, pikachu pikachu pika pika," it spoke.

Meowth looked up at the humans. "It said dat Dedenne tried to tell da young twerpette what Pikachu said about Eusine, but da young twerpette didn't get it. She thinks dat ya just said to keep everyone safe," spoke Meowth, mirroring some of the frustration in its tone that Pikachu and Dedenne had to be feeling.

Ash frowned. "Well, at least you made contact. This is a problem, though. We won't be able to find the shrine's location if Bonnie can't understand Dedenne without a pokémon like Meowth around." He glanced at the cat pokémon before continuing. "Pikachu, ask Dedenne if it knows where the shrine is," he requested.

Pikachu nodded and released another electric signal from its cheeks. Ash returned Greninja while they waited for a response. "We should build a machine that lets us send our own electric messages," muttered James.

Serena pretended that she hadn't heard him while Pikachu received a response from Dedenne. It again spoke quickly to Meowth. Meowth heaved a sigh. "Now Pikachu is saying dat da way to da shrine hasn't even been revealed to da twerpette because dey want as few people as possible to know how to get to da shrine." It turned to Ash. "Dis is ridiculous. How are we supposed ta help you lugs if ya can't even communicate properly?" it complained.

A rebuke brewed in Serena's mind, but before she could properly speak out against the talking pokémon, Pikachu's cheeks flared up with electricity again, and the electric type became excited. It spoke to Meowth one more time. Meowth's eyes widened. "Guess I just put my paw in my big mouth. Pikachu said dat Dedenne sent a message specifically from Clemont. Da science twerp said dat he had instructions on how ta get to da shrine written down on a piece of paper, but he needs someone to come and get dem from him because dey're all being forced ta stay in da police station until its time ta go to da shrine. He said ta be inconspicuous." Meowth finished its translation and frowned. "Right, cause we can jus walk into a police station again."

It was hard not to share in Meowth's frustration. Jenny was being smart in her confinement of the group until they were needed, but it didn't make Serena's goal of getting to the shrine to stop Eusine any less difficult. "Maybe we should just let Clemont and the others handle Eusine," offered Serena timidly. "He's already prepared to take down someone in the group should he or she turn on everyone."

There was a shaking of heads from team rocket and Ash alike. "Clemont may be prepared, but he won't be able to act until it's almost too late. We need to get to the shrine. Jessie, James. Can you get in with a disguise?" he asked hopefully.

The two humans broke out into grins, while Meowth sulked. "Why ain't I getting a disguise, twerp? Who died and made you da boss?" he spoke angrily.

Ash held a hand to indicate Meowth's height. "As great as some of your disguises are, people like Calem will see right through you because of your height. Jessie and James need as much time as possible to get that note off of Clemont. Do you two think you can do that?"

By the time Serena had shifted her gaze to Jessie and James, the two had miraculously changed clothes, and were now dressed exactly like tourists, complete with travel guides, cameras, large red scarfs, and berets to hide most of their noticeable hair. Ash grinned while Serena's mouth fell open. She knew that team rocket was good with disguises, but this was ridiculous. If she didn't know she was looking at Jessie and James, she wouldn't have even noticed that team rocket was right in front of her. "We won't be long," James promised in an accent that Serena could only describe as foreign. "Meowth, stay with the twerps and keep them out of trouble until we finish doing their jobs for them. We'll send inkay if something goes wrong."

The pokémon reluctantly saluted. "You lugs better come back safe, or I'll fury swipes ya inta next week!" it threatened.

Jessie leaned over to Serena. "Did you say something yet, lovesick twerp?" she whispered, barely out of Ash's hearing range.

Serena went red. "How can you be thinking about that right now?!" she hissed, crossing her arms angrily.

"The better question, I think, is why do I have to keep asking you that question?" Before Serena could respond, she pulled away and sprinted off with James, leaving Ash and Serena alone with Meowth.

Jessie's question left Serena mentally reeling. It didn't help that the memory of being so close to confessing to Ash before being arrested was still raw in her mind. She glanced at her crush, who was staring after team rocket thoughtfully. It would probably be a while before they got back, assuming they succeeded, which Serena still had her doubts about, even with Ash's faith in them. If she was going to say something, now would be the time, before they would be forced into battle to defend the champion, before she had to risk herself not only against Eusine, but against capture by the police. The boy turned his gaze to her, and she forced herself to look away. _Why am I suddenly so shy? Why does he suddenly look so... attractive? What is wrong with me?!_ She pushed the rising panic within her down forcefully and took a deep breath. Ash tilted his head. "They'll be fine, Serena. We can trust Jessie and James, no matter what they've done."

 _He thinks I'm worrying about Jessie and James!_ The thought made her want to laugh, but her current state prevented such mirth. Meowth changed its gaze from the river to Ash. "Since I'm stuck twerpsitting, answer me dis, twerp. Why are you so trusting of us? Ya know we'll take yer pokémon at da first opportunity."

Ash met the question with an unwavering smile. "You know why, Meowth. I know who you guys are on the road, but when it comes down to it, you guys will do the right thing. You've proven that."

Meowth turned away in a huff. "We do wat we do fer da boss. Nothing more, nothing less. Yer fooling yerself if ya think we're your friends." it spoke, though some of the edge in the pokémon's voice had diminished.

 _He's doing it again,_ thought Serena. _Even team rocket has problems opposing him when he talks to them like this. He's so charismatic. And handsome. And I'm getting distracted again._ "Serena?" came Ash's voice from somewhere.

Serena snapped to attention and realized that both Meowth and Ash were staring at her. She crossed her arms in discomfort. "Sorry..." she apologized. "What were we talking about?"

"I asked if you were alright," said Ash, concern on his face.

Serena hugged herself tightly to force her senses back together. "I'm okay, Ash. I'm... okay." She couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. It felt like it was burning into her soul.

"You know, we found Pikachu," he pointed out. "If you want to finish what we were talking about, we can do that while we wait," he suggested.

As soon as Meowth heard that, it threw its paws up into the air. "I know where dis is going. Come on, Pikachu, we don't want ta be here fer dis."

While Serena glared daggers at Meowth for its comment and the reveal that it had in fact been spying on the trainers, Pikachu gave Ash a look asking if it was really a good idea for it to go off alone with Meowth. Ash nodded to himself and released Greninja once more. "Keep Pikachu and Meowth out of trouble for me please, Greninja," he requested.

Greninja nodded and gave Pikachu the confidence to jump to the ground at Meowth's side. Meowth looked up at the water type and shivered a bit. "Right. I'm gonna go get da balloon and bring it ta da nearest clearing. I suggest you two find dat clearing so I don't have ta go looking for ya," it spoke in empty threat.

Ash gave the pokémon a nod before the new trio took off further downriver to retrieve the balloon. Serena saw them off and couldn't help but wonder what wild pokémon would think about a trio like that wandering around the forest. "Do you think they'll be able to fly the balloon themselves?" she asked, the thought suddenly terrifying her.

"I guess we'll find out," responded Ash with a nonchalant shrug.

An overwhelming desire to follow the pokémon and ensure that they didn't crash into the river started to overcome Serena, but she forced it down. There was still the largest issue plaguing her since she met Ash in the first place to deal with. She gestured to the forest. "I guess we should find a clearing then," she suggested.

Ash nodded wordlessly. Serena wondered if he had picked up on the tension she had to be exuding in waves. She couldn't help but be nervous. _No matter what he will say, he has the right to know how I feel, the same as Tierno. I can't go into such an important battle like this with unfinished business. The fate of the champion could be riding on Ash and I._ The last thought briefly made her reconsider trying to open up Ash's emotions right now, but she wrote it off as nerves. Before long, the two came into a clearing, really more of a small meadow dotted with white and blue flowers. The trees on the edges of the meadow provided little coverage over the area, so it was safe to assume that this particular patch of land would be the most noticeable to Meowth. Serena walked around the clearing, inspecting every detail, wanting to remember it in the event that she somehow managed to get out the words she was still running away from saying. Ash watched her from the center of the meadow in amusement. "It'll be a bit easier to talk if you come over here," he offered.

With only the slightest hesitation, Serena turned and made her way over to Ash, barely meeting his gaze. The boy's hands drummed nervously at the sides of his legs. Serena realized that she needed to ease the tension in the area before even trying to talk to Ash. She smoothed her vest out and took a seat on her knees before sliding her backpack off of her back and onto the ground in front of her. Ash took the hint and sat cross-legged across from her. _I need to make the first move here._ "Ash... are you glad Pikachu is back?" _Small talk isn't going to get this conversation anywhere!_

Ash nodded, but he didn't display his trademark grin. "Of course! I really missed my buddy, and knowing where he is makes me feel much better about our odds against Eusine. Although..." he trailed off and looked away.

Serena leaned in slightly. "What? You can tell me, Ash," she assured him. _So much for small talk not going anywhere._

The boy tilted his cap downwards a bit. He appeared to be ashamed of something. "I... don't feel right. I haven't felt right since they arrested you, Serena. No, since you showed me that card of yours. The arrest just made it worse. I've been... worried that I'm going to make a mistake, that I'm going to lose you, Serena. It still scares me a little, knowing that you won't be safe until we catch Eusine. When you told me you might leave, I told you that I thought it was best for you, and I still think it is, but a part of me very badly wanted you to stay with me and keep travelling with me. I felt bad because of that. It felt like I wanted to keep you from achieving your dreams. I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel like I'm being just as selfish as I was when I started my journey, and I don't like it."

He never looked up, but Serena knew she would see pain in Ash's eyes if he did. She didn't even dare to think that Ash might be developing feelings for her as well. That would only set her up for disappointment. "Ash, what you're feeling is normal. You don't want to leave a... friend." She forced the word out like it was stuck between her teeth. "I don't want to leave, either. I made it clear that I think I would be better off following you than taking the offer."

Ash frowned. "You could learn more from Palermo than anything my encouragement could give you. I could encourage you from anywhere. You can only get this training here," he insisted.

Serena realized they were falling into the same conundrum and changed course. "Ash, what am I to you?" she asked. _You have to face the problem head on._

Ash looked up, confused. "You're Serena, one of my best friends and my travelling companion. You're a skilled performer and you always cheer harder than anyone else for me in my battles. You make awesome poké puffs, you care deeply about your pokémon and about being clean, you have a way with ryhorn, you are the first person I'm travelling with that I met before my journey, you're very kind, and you have great fashion sense. That's a general assessment, anyways. Why?" he asked.

Serena took a moment to process that Ash had all that information about her readily available. He must pay more attention to things other than pokémon and battling than she thought. A glimmer of hope welled up within her, and she chose to release it. "So you don't think I'm a substitute?"

"A substitute?" asked Ash incredulously. "For what?"

The confidence Serena had faltered and her voice lowered as a result. "For your previous companions," she uttered.

For another moment Ash was still lost, but merciful realization eventually came to him. "Oh. Of course not, Serena! Why would you even think that?!"

She took her turn to look away. Her hands played with the grass and wildflowers absentmindedly. "I've had my suspicions. After what you just said, though, I don't know anymore. It doesn't go with what I've heard about the others regarding you," she spoke.

Ash considered this. "So what does my emotion mean? What are my feelings of wanting to stop you from leaving, to stay with you right now supposed to mean? How do you describe this?" he asked, at a loss for answers.

Serena's card grew heavier in her pocket. She realized that there was only one way for her to describe the emotions Ash was experiencing. If she was wrong, the results would be devastating, but if she was right, and Ash decided that his feelings matched up with her own infatuation... _There's no time to think about it. It's now or never._ She swung her head upwards, facing Ash directly, startling him. The performer reached into her pocket and withdrew the card. "What is this?" she asked Ash.

Ash tilted his head. "That's the card that Palermo gave you, the invitation to work under her," he answered.

Serena nodded. She placed the card on a flat piece of ground in between them. She noticed that her hand was trembling as she did so, and she steeled herself. There was no time for fear. She couldn't let fear kill her momentum. She reached for her ribbon next and untied it from her clothing, releasing the blue ribbon into her hand. "What's this?" she asked, shoving down her feeling that she was treating Ash like he was younger than Bonnie.

"That's the ribbon I gave you in Coumarine City. It looks great on you," he responded innocently.

Serena ignored the blush, and allowed it to remain while she pointed to the edge of the ribbon that she had cut to make the length suitable for her clothing. "It's not just a ribbon. Right here, where the ribbon ends, is a cut made by the same scissors that I used to cut my hair. That was a sign of my devotion to my new goal. The cut is reminder of my failure in my first performance, which traces back to seeing everyone else have a dream at that summer camp, a camp I only went to because I was travelling with Braixen at the time." She placed the ribbon and Braixen's poké ball next to the card. "I was only on a journey with Braixen to get away from my mom and her goals of making me into a ryhorn racer because she was such a great racer in her time. I had been trained to be a ryhorn racer my whole life before this journey. Does all that sound like a fair retelling of my story?" she asked Ash, carefully listening to hear his response.

Ash very clearly went over the entire series of events that Serena had just described in his head before he made his decision, which Serena could appreciate. "Yes," he decided. "I think you covered all the major points."

Serena let out a smirk that she immediately hid, trying to maintain her composure, lest she lose control of her nerve. "It's not an accurate retelling, Ash," she spoke. "It left out the vital thread that connects all of these events, that drove them, that molded the person who experienced these events into the person she is now."

"What did I forget?" Ash asked curiously.

With a bit of embarrassment, Serena pointed to Ash. "I left out you, Ash. You didn't notice?"

There was a moment where Ash had to think before he realized what Serena meant. When he did, he looked directly into her blue eyes, pools of brown interacting with pools of blue, reading each other and trying to understand what the other was reading at the same time. "I did," he finally spoke. "I'm just not sure how much of an impact I could have had-"

Serena shushed, quieting Ash immediately. "Let me show you," she said, preparing herself to retell the story once more. "There was a reason my mother foisted my ryhorn racing training on me at such an early age. I went to a summer camp in the Kanto region that I didn't want to go to. I believed that I would hate it there, and for a while, I did. Then I met a boy who showed me an alternative through his kindness, and I couldn't be the same again. I couldn't get the boy who helped me in the forest out of my mind, and when I left that camp, I found myself in a sort of depression even worse than the one I felt going into camp, albeit for a different reason. The boy who arrived, changed my outlook, and left just as quickly was gone, so my mother forced me into ryhorn racing training so I wouldn't mope around all day. Years later, I did leave home to get away from my mother, but that's not the entire story. I left home because I saw that boy again, on television, jumping off of Prism Tower just to save his pikachu. When I saw that he was okay, that he was here, in my region, I knew that I had to see him again, so I took off to find him under the guise of being on a pokémon journey. I met him, and he offered to have me travel with him as he collected badges, an opportunity I was all too happy to accept. On this journey, I went to a summer camp where I found a dream that I could fully pursue, inspired by the boy's motivational quotes and the passion he showed for his own dream. I became a performer to try to aspire to reach a level that I saw those around me striving for, to try and make something of myself that the boy would be proud of and I would be proud of." A pause occurred while Serena picked up the ribbon and placed it delicately in her hand.

"Then came my first utter failure of a performance, something I myself take full responsibility for. The devastation was overwhelming, but I held it away from the boy and my friends. If they saw me in such a state, they would show concern and wonder if I was doing what I really wanted to do. I asked myself that same question, standing on a pier in that city. The decision I made was change. I couldn't be the same person that I was when I started my journey. That person couldn't not be me, of course, but I couldn't be that person. I had to evolve. To prove that I was changing and to symbolize my determination, I changed my outfit, cut my hair and this ribbon to wear, a more permanent symbol of how important the boy was to helping me grow into something new. I wanted the hope and inspiration that the boy gave me to be as close to my heart as possible at all possible times." There was another pause while Serena exchanged the ribbon for the card.

"Using that hope, inspiration, and my own reinvention of myself, I won the three necessary princess keys and won second place in the master class competition. This got the attention of one of the best former performers and one of the best performer trainers in the Kalos region, Palermo. She offered me this card, telling me that I should call her when I was ready to train under her, an opportunity of a lifetime. The problem with this story is that it doesn't end there. I haven't taken the offer on the card because of the boy. I haven't been able to bring myself to leave him, certainly not until he finishes his journey here. Thus, the card still exists, and I find myself stuck between it and the boy who led me to the card." She placed the card back on the ground to indicate that she was finished.

Ash regarded Serena, the items on the ground, and the second story. Serena tried to divert her gaze to something else, the gently swaying flowers, the rolling white clouds, the dying sunlight, or even her own hands, but Ash had stolen all of her attention. She found herself unable to look away. With scrunched eyebrows, Ash continued to look at Serena. "Why did you tell me this?" he asked, his voice sounding like it was stretching out over a million years.

Realizing that the silence was what was causing her to lose her grip on the situation, Serena forced herself to speak again, trying to ignore her reddening face. "Well, I need to be honest, Ash. The things that I'm describing, the events that took place, when they happen in this way... they tend to cause the person to develop a deep sort of... infatuation for the boy when the boy does all those things for her, just by being himself. The girl who learned so much from this boy can't help but find herself falling for that boy. The boy hasn't noticed this, of course, because he's just being himself. This causes the girl to wonder and worry about other girls who travelled with the boy, to become concerned that she's just another in a line of girls that likely have similar stories, another substitute for them. These are the kind of things a girl who loves a boy like that starts to think in that kind of story, and that's how I would describe how you're feeling. It's the closest thing I have to it to tell," she spoke. Every word was a mountain to climb, and Serena felt that she was falling apart as she said each syllable. Ending her speech was like jumping from a plane. There was nothing more she could do, she could only hope that her parachute opened properly.

As silence again descended, Serena began to panic internally during her free fall. While expecting Ash to respond immediately was obviously foolish, she couldn't help but feel everything she had scatter away from her as residue from her outpouring of emotion to a vessel that hadn't decided if it wanted to accept the offering or not yet. After an agonizingly long period of thought, the trainer pulled his hat out of the mess of his raven colored hair. He placed the cap on the ground, at the start of the line of items that had been formed on the ground. "The story doesn't consider something else, either," he spoke simply.

The response puzzled Serena. "What did I miss?" she asked, perplexed.

Ash pointed to the cap in response. "The story doesn't have the boy's point of view in it," he responded plainly.

Before Serena really understood what that meant, Ash launched into his own recounting of events. "The boy went to a summer camp when he was young because the camp was nearby and he didn't have many other things to do. He didn't have many friends, but he tried to be nice to everyone, which included helping a young girl in a straw hat when she got lost in the woods. When he went on his journey, he met a ton of people, made many friends, but few of them ever stayed with him for a longer period than one region of his travel. A notable exception would be Brock, although even he eventually left to pursue his own dreams. Aside from Pikachu, the boy knew that everyone would always leave at some point to achieve their own dreams, and he was happy for them, if not a little sad. He made an effort to contact them occasionally, when he could and when he knew where they were, or when he wanted them to support some of his other friends. Things were different when the girl with the straw hat reappeared. Here was somebody from so long ago, the boy had nearly forgotten that she existed. Were it not for her determination to return the handkerchief she had been given by the boy all those years ago, the boy and girl might never have seen each other again." Ash pulled the handkerchief from his pocket and placed it neatly on top of his hat.

"Once reunited, the girl helped the boy win a gym badge using wisdom he had forgotten that he himself had given her, which inspired the boy to ask her to join him on his journey with his other new friends. Something felt... different about her, but not in a bad way, and the boy wanted to learn more from and about her. When the boy went to camp, he was overjoyed to learn that the girl had discovered her dream of performing while there, and on the flip side he was every bit as crushed as she was when the tragedy of her first performance struck. Despite his knowledge that she would be alright, that she was easily strong enough to overcome the challenge presented to her, the boy had another nagging feeling of concern for his friend. It refused to go away and it deeply bothered him, at least until the girl appeared before him wearing the blue ribbon he had gifted her on a whim earlier, with a new outfit and cut hair on top of that. Things felt better after that. Watching her win was like winning a gym battle for him, and he even diverted his course to his next gym so that he could watch her compete in the master class competition. He had never diverted his gym path for any of his companions. When he learned about the card she had received, he knew he should have expected something like the card, but it didn't lessen the force of the blow dealt to him. He saw in front of him the symbol of the girl who was supposed to be different potentially leaving, and it shocked him. He was unable to provide anything for her aid other than the typical friendly response and stalling while his mind was conflicted between wanting the girl to succeed and wanting the girl to stay with him. The world was going crazy with paranoia around him, his pikachu was missing, and the champion had been badly wounded, but the boy was most disturbed by the idea of the girl leaving his side. It bothered him, and he didn't know what to do about it. All he knew for certain was that, whatever he was feeling that drove him to want to be around this girl, to want to keep her safe, help her grow and learn from her, it was unique to her, completely unlike anyone who came before her. It would be impossible for her to be a substitute to anyone." Ash cleared his throat as he ended his speech.

Serena stared at him in awe. Her heart was either beating too fast for her to detect or it had stopped, she wasn't sure which. She and Ash met each other's gazes. Ash smiled. "I think our stories have a common theme," he suggested playfully.

The small joke instantly lightened Serena's mood. "I suppose they do," she agreed. _Finish it._ "Ash... does that mean you understand, well..." she broke off, cursing her sudden weakness to her inhibitions.

Ash nodded, like he had received the message anyways. "If this feeling we have, this... desire to be with another person that lifts him up while he tries to lift her up, this need to be together to the point that it overrides basic desires and goals that were planted from a very young age, and this other person feels the same, then-"

Serena stood up, cutting him off. There was no alternative now. Ash had done the best version of expressing his feelings that he could. She had to seize the chance now. The performer offered a hand to Ash, which he accepted. Serena no longer felt like she controlled her body. She was in a dance that had been choreographed and now was being executed without her conscious effort. The two stood there in the dying daylight, facing each other as the final night of the festival prepared to begin. There was nothing but the two of them in the world they had created for themselves in that moment, standing over their items in a meadow at sunset. She let out openly the one word that surmised all of her feelings for Ash to accept or deny. "I... think they would call that love," she whispered.


	18. Chapter 18: The North Wind

"YOU TWO SHOULD KISS!" The obnoxious shout came from somewhere above Ash and Serena.

The two trainers yelped in surprise at the interruption and stumbled away from each other, like somebody had slammed a wall down between them. They turned their gazes upwards in the dying light to see the familiar shape of team rocket's balloon hovering in the air above them. Meowth had its head poked out from the basket, where it was leering down at the trainers. "Oops, am I interrupting? So sorry," Meowth called down sarcastically. "In case you two twerpy lovebirds had forgotten, we have a crime ta stop!" it shouted irritably.

Both of Serena's hands clenched into fists. Meowth had just ruined her confession to Ash, and she wasn't going to rest until it paid dearly for its actions. She pulled out her two poké balls that were still in her pocket and retrieved Braixen's poké ball from the ground, seizing her ribbon and her card while she was at it. "Ash, I am going to destroy that pokémon if you don't stop me right now," she spoke with a deadly calm about her.

A chuckle left Ash's mouth. She was glad he found this momentous occasion's interruption funny. "Can you wait until Meowth lands? Pikachu and Greninja should be on that balloon, too," he reminded her with a grin on his face.

Ash's statement was perhaps the only thing that caused Serena to stay her hand. She let out a humph and crossed her arms while she waited for the balloon to descend so she could annihilate Meowth. As the balloon came ever closer to the ground, Greninja leapt from the balloon to stand by Ash, while Pikachu hopped onto the edge of the balloon's basket and waved down to its trainer. Ash waved back casually, and Serena mentally placed Ash in the next position on her hit list for acting so casual about the whole ordeal. _After how long I've waited to say something, Meowth is going to pay for ruining my chance._ The very second the balloon touched the ground, Serena stormed over to the likeness of Meowth and stared face to face with the cat pokémon. Pikachu saw the intensity in Serena's eyes and retreated to Ash for protection. Meowth's cocky disregard for others faded into nervous tension as it took in the angry girl in front of her. "Hey, twerpette. What's up?" it asked casually, while sweating bullets.

Serena tossed all three of her poké balls in the air, releasing all three of her pokémon. She pointed at Meowth angrily. "Attack. Now," she commanded.

Though slightly concerned by the nature of Serena's orders, Braixen and the others nevertheless obeyed, launching a flamethrower, dark pulse, and a fairy wind directly at the exposed Meowth. The pokémon cried out in terror and scrambled to get away, only to fail miserably and take the brunt of all three attacks. It flew through the air and into the bushes, releasing a soft moan as the only indicator that is was still conscious. Serena allowed herself a small vengeful smile. "That's for interrupting us," she spoke, loud enough for Meowth to hear from its spot in the bushes.

Still smiling, Ash approached the balloon and Serena. He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder, causing her to whirl on him. "Don't act innocent, Ash Ketchum. You thought it was funny that Meowth interrupted us, didn't you?" she accused.

Serena's pokémon were slowly becoming aware of what had happened, and they started to rally behind their trainer angrily. Ash held his toothy grin. "Serena, after what just happened between us, how could I possibly be upset?" he asked.

The tension and anger in Serena's body was exuded with his statement. She was truly mystified by Ash's powers of charisma. She folded her arms and looked away from him stubbornly. "That's not fair," she stated plainly, hiding a blush. "You can't just always say the right thing all the time."

"Trust me, I'm wrong more than I'm right," Ash promised. "But I know I'm right about one thing: I feel the way you do, Serena. Nothing is going to change that."

Serena found a smile returning to her face in spite of herself. Meowth's interruption was erased with Ash's confirmation that he felt the same way Serena did. He gestured to the balloon. "We don't have the time to properly discuss everything, but what you're feeling is the same as what I'm feeling, Serena. No matter what happens next, don't ever forget that."

The performer nodded, unable to form words. Her eyes shown with the myriad of infinite possibilities that had opened up in front of her, the fantasies she had harbored since she was a little girl suddenly becoming all too feasible. The idea was frankly overwhelming, and she rested a single hand on the basket of team rocket's balloon for support. Her pokémon flocked around her in concern, but Serena waved them off with a small smile, and returned them thankfully. Ash took the chance to return Greninja before again placing a hand on Serena's shoulder to help balance her. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked with concern.

Serena nodded. "I'm fine. I guess I just feel a little overwhelmed by what happened," she admitted.

Ash contemplated something while he held Serena. He felt different than the other times they had made contact. Serena wasn't sure if it was because they had confessed their feelings or if it had something to do with her sudden fatigue. "Serena, if you aren't feeling your best, I'd prefer for you to stay here. I don't want you to get hurt-"

Blue fire ignited in Serena's eyes, and she burned her gaze into her crush. "I am not staying behind, Ash. I've come too far to not be with you. If you're going, then I'm going too. You don't need to protect me," she spoke, forcing herself to stand up straight to support her point.

"Alright. I understand, Serena," Ash consented. "Just... be careful, alright?"

Serena nodded. "Of course. You too."

Ash retracted his hand and let out a full laugh. "You know I can't promise that," he got out between laughs.

Serena smiled. As much as she disliked the boy running headlong into danger, it wouldn't be him if he didn't. "I know. Just make sure you come out in one piece," she cautioned, returning her ribbon and her card to their proper places as she spoke.

As he smiled, something in the sky caught Ash's attention, and he looked up with interest. Serena looked up, following his gaze. Something appeared to be falling out of the sky, headed in their general direction. Serena squinted in disbelief. "Is that..." she started to say before the yelling from the falling object became audible.

"I don't know anyone else who blasts off like that," confirmed Ash casually.

Jessie and James were yelling incoherently as they flew across the sky, their trajectory suggesting that they were heading directly for where Ash and Serena were standing. "We should probably-"

"Run!" exclaimed Ash jovially, snatching Serena's hand and taking off, interrupting her words.

Serena had to struggle just to not trip over herself as Ash dragged her with him towards the edge of the clearing opposite where Meowth had landed. When she found her footing, she put on a burst of speed to run evenly with Ash. They held each other's hands tightly, as if their lives depended on it. For Serena, it felt like she had reclaimed some of the moment that Meowth had so cruelly wrested from her and Ash. The running added a sense of exhilaration that made her feel like she could take on the world instead of just Eusine. Ash came to a halt as they reached the edge of the clearing, and Serena mimed him. They turned to watch the comet that was team rocket come streaking towards the ground until they collided with their own balloon, puncturing a massive hole in the structure and releasing all of the air. Team rocket exited through the other side of the balloon and came to a halt in a crater that they created for themselves in the ground. Ash sighed. "There goes the balloon," he commented regretfully.

"You're not concerned about team rocket?" Serena asked in surprise.

Ash glanced over at the people on the ground. "After all this time, I'm pretty sure they can survive anything," he responded nonchalantly.

Straining to get a good view of the criminals, Serena saw that they were in fact alright, though they appeared to be carrying multiple scrapes and bruises with them. She walked forward with Ash back into the clearing to get a better look. As they approached, a loud groan came out of Jessie's mouth while she sat up. "Stupid twerps..." she muttered to herself.

James stood up and checked his inkay, the pokémon having apparently been recently used in battle. When he rose, Serena noticed that he and Jessie had switched back to their traditional uniform, meaning that they had been found out by the group before being blasted off. Serena could feel her heart sinking at the implications of those facts while Jessie glanced around and noticed Serena and Ash. "Oh look, it's the other twerps. How convenient. I hope your stupid shrine directions were worth a blastoff," she commented irritably.

Hope flared up in Serena. "You mean you got Clemont's message?" Ash asked excitedly.

"Right here," answered James, withdrawing a folded piece of paper from Inkay and tossing it in the general direction of the trainers, which Ash caught. "Your twerpy friend is smart. When we clued him in to our intentions, he challenged me to a single battle the second our disguise failed, and he had his luxray carry the note and pass it on to Inkay while they battled. Then he blasted us back into the forest so we could deliver the note. Much as I loathe to admit it, it was a cunning plan for such short notice," he continued with begrudged admiration in his voice.

"Did you read the note?" Serena asked.

James shook his head. "You try reading something while you're flying through the air. I let Inkay hold onto the note until now," he responded before continuing to care for his pokémon.

"Are you two... alright?" Serena asked tentatively. She had sent team rocket blasting off plenty of times, but watching them land was very different.

Jessie scoffed. "Where was that sentiment every other time we've blasted off, twerpette? Don't answer that." She glanced around the area, looking for something. "Wait, where's Meowth?" she asked.

A moan from the bush where Meowth had landed emitted into the meadow. Four pairs of eyes turned to the source of the noise, two pairs with confusion, one with mild interest, and the other with a small amount of guilt. "Meowth?" James asked curiously, before turning back to Ash and Serena. "What happened to our partner?!" he demanded.

Before Serena could decide whether or not to tell the truth, Meowth came stumbling out of the bushes, covered in burn marks and fairy dust. "Oh, my aching everyting! What happened?" it asked to everyone before noticing that Jessie and James were back. "Jess! James! What happened last night? Did we catch dat Pikachu?" it asked.

Ash and Serena exchanged a glance. Ash mouthed the word amnesia to Serena, and realization dawned on her face. While she felt just a little bad for attacking Meowth so hard, she didn't feel bad enough to tell team rocket what she did. "Oh, Meowth picked a fight with a slurpuff while we were waiting to hear from you. It didn't go well," she lied.

Jessie glared at Meowth. "What about the burn marks?" she asked suspiciously.

"The slurpuff called a litleo for help," Ash answered immediately, covering for Serena. "We wanted to help, but Meowth insisted that it try to handle this itself."

James put a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "That does sound like the kind of thing Meowth would pull..." he agreed. "Meowth! Why are you wasting our precious time attacking wild pokémon while we risk our necks to save the region?! The least you could do is keep the balloon safe!" he shouted at the pokémon.

Serena stifled laughter as she realized that James was blaming Meowth for destroying the balloon on top of picking dumb fights that it hadn't started. Meowth was still clearly out of it. "Oh, I'm sorry guys... I don't know wat came over me..." it apologized, barely lucid.

Ash grinned. "Do you want to tell the truth?" he whispered to Serena.

Serena stared into the boys eyes and shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "Now we're even," she responded as Jessie and James continued to yell at the pokémon.

While waiting for the anger to subside in Jessie and James to the point that they would treat Meowth's injuries, Ash unfolded the piece of paper that they had received from Clemont. At the top was a set of directions to get to the shrine from the north exit of town. A sketch of the path was crudely drawn on the margin of the paper, showing that the river seemingly came to a head at one point, only to actually go underground and remerge in a completely different area to lead to the true shrine. Ash raised his eyebrows. "Wow. There's a fake head of the river to lead people astray and everything. No wonder nobody has found the shrine without knowing where it is."

Serena nodded in agreement. The shrine appeared to be at least a few hours of walking away from the town, not accounting for the dense forest that surrounded the entire area. It was truly well hidden. "We'll have to leave soon if we want to make it in time for the ceremony," she commented, looking at the sunset worriedly.

"Hey, Clemont wrote a note on the bottom," Ash pointed out.

Glancing down, Serena realized that Clemont had indeed left a message for them. She started to read it aloud, squinting to see in the lack of light.

 _Ash and Serena,_

 _These directions will take you to the shrine. Jenny only gave us two copies, one for me and one for Calem. She's very mad at me and at all of us, especially you for helping Serena escape, Ash. She said she's only trusting us out of necessity at this point, since I threatened to tell everyone in the region what was happening if she didn't let us help. She's mad about that, too, but she's out of options, since she can't arrest a gym leader without a really good reason. I'll just say I destroyed my directions after I memorized them. She'll like that. Hurry to the shrine. I still don't know who else we can trust. Hopefully you were able to get this message. I'm almost positive that someone in our group is the true culprit here, but I'm not sure who anymore. I hope you two are safe and found Pikachu. If we don't get the chance to talk again until the culprit is revealed... then you should all know that, no matter what happens, I've deeply enjoyed travelling with all of you._

 _-Clemont_

"It sounds like he's not confident in our odds of success," commented Serena.

Ash frowned. "It took all of us to bring down that blazekin. If Eusine has more pokémon like that..."

Serena shivered at the thought and squeezed Ash's hand a little more tightly. "Don't say that. We have to beat Eusine. If he's willing to attack the champion and kill her, we have to stop him. There's no alternative," she spoke firmly, trying to reassure herself along with Ash.

"Well put, twerpette," spoke James as the trio approached Ash and Serena. "Team rocket always fights on, no matter how stacked against us the odds may be!" he boasted.

Jessie held her head up high. "Yeah! We even come close to winning sometimes!"

Meowth shook itself and stared curiously at Ash and Serena. "Why do I feel like you two should be doing something right now?" It asked, still a bit delirious.

Serena raised her hands to wave off Meowth's question, but in doing so, she inadvertently drew attention to her hand holding with Ash. Jessie stared at it, and in doing so a sadistic grin spread across her face. James merely looked at the hand holding with nonchalant approval.

"Soooo, what have you two been up to?" Jessie questioned intrusively.

The two trainers immediately let go of each other's hands, both blushing. "Nothing!" they both exclaimed at the same time, only to cover their own mouths when they realized that they spoke at the same time.

Jessie laughed. "Doesn't seem like it, twerps! Don't tell me, Serena, did you finally-"

"We don't have time for this right now, Jessie," James interrupted.

Jessie pouted. "Come on, James, don't be a stick in the mud," she coaxed.

"If we don't move now, team rocket might not have a champion of the region to overthrow," he pointed out. "We heard what you said. Let's get moving while we still have some light," he instructed.

Ash and Serena shared one more look that implied that they would discuss things later as well before they set off for the shrine, Ash making sure to retrieve his hat before he left. They elected to leave the team rocket balloon behind, seeing as how it would take far too long to repair to be worth the saved time. When the sun finally disappeared over the horizon, Jessie sent out Gourgeist to let them continue to follow the directions in the dark. The trip itself was uneventful, though Serena consistently had to dodge Jessie's questions about what she and Ash had really been doing while they were gone. Mercifully, Ash was able to help her now, and between them they managed to keep Jessie in the dark until they reached the part of the forest where the river reemerged from being underground. Ash motioned to Gourgeist. "We should only have to follow the river from here on in. I don't think we want them to know that we're here yet."

Jessie nodded, having gone uncharacteristically silent. She returned her gourgeist, and the group was instantly enveloped in darkness. They continued to follow the soft pulsing of the river as the moon climbed higher into the air. While it was difficult to see, Serena could tell that the river was at least slightly smaller than it was when they had seen it in town. She decided to take this as a sign that they were getting close to the true mouth of the river. The group of four and two pokémon continued on in silence until a dim light became visible up ahead. Emboldened, the group moved forward more quickly and found themselves standing in front of a large structure that had to be the shrine. Unlike the reasonably small shrine that Serena had expected, she found that the shrine was of decently large size and apparently prepared to prevent entry to anyone who tried to breach the sacred area. The river's path continued directly towards this structure until it disappeared under a set of large wooden doors that had been closed by a large wooden plank placed across them. Lanterns hung along the walls of the shrine, just far enough to maximize their usefulness. The wall itself was about five meters high, and with the light of the lantern, Serena could see several police officers gathered at what appeared to be the only entrance to the shrine. The wall was topped with a slanted rooftop design that Serena recognized as hailing from Johto region architecture. Ash motioned for them to get away from the river, and everyone obeyed, moving to another part of the dense forest where they would be less noticeable. Serena was glad that Ash had thought to cut off Gourgeist's light. "We need to find another entrance. There's too many cops to deal with, and we might need their help," Ash whispered.

James released Inkay in response. "Inkay, go around the wall of this shrine and tell us if there's another entrance anywhere," he instructed.

Inkay responded by sounding off its name, and it floated away, circumambulating the shrine. A tense moment passed while Inkay made its round around the shrine. When it returned, it spoke rapidly to Meowth, causing it to frown. "Inkay said dat dere's no other entrances to da shrine. Wat's worse, yer twerpy friends are standing around da walls, waiting for some criminal to charge at 'em," it translated.

Ash actually smiled in the dim lantern light. "That's good. We can get in by going over the wall in the spot where Clemont is guarding. He'll definitely let us in," he spoke confidently.

Another thought occurred to Serena. "Inkay, was anyone from the group not guarding the wall?" she asked.

Inkay nodded and spoke its name a few more times. "It said... Eusine wasn't dere. Wait, dat means da old twerp might have snuck in already!" It exclaimed, a bit too loud for Serena's comfort.

James and Jessie shushed their partner, but the damage had been done. Some of the cops glanced up, and one of them started walking cautiously in the direction of the noise. Serena felt panic start to take control of her. "We'll distract them," James decided for everyone. "You two go find Clemont and Bonnie."

"We can't just leave you two!" objected Ash in a hissed whisper.

For the first time, the smile that Jessie formed on her face felt reassuring. "Don't worry, twerp, we know when even we're in over our heads. Go give that purple freak a beating for us," she requested.

Serena tugged on Ash's arm as the cop got ever closer. "Ash, we have to go," she insisted.

A frown decorated Ash's face, but he knew he couldn't change team rocket's minds. "...Thanks, guys," he finally spoke.

Meowth waved off the thanks. "Thank us by making sure team rocket has a regional champion to topple when we're done here," it responded as it unsheathed its claws.

Ash nodded once before he and Serena moved away from team rocket, sneaking stealthily through the undergrowth. When they had gotten a small distance away, the two trainers heard team rocket burst out of their impromptu hiding place and begin their theme song, drawing the attention of every cop at the front door. Serena silently sent another thanks to team rocket as they snuck around the grey wall of the shrine, just out of view of anyone who may be watching. "Jenny made a mistake in telling everyone to guard the walls like this," commented Ash. "It made it too easy for Eusine to sneak in."

"It might not have been her idea," whispered Serena. "Eusine or one of the others could have come up with it."

Ash shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I guess. We just need to stop Eusine."

The two turned a corner, Serena noting the tower-like structure that marked a corner of the shrine, slightly taller than the wall and with more ornate decorations marking it. Turning this corner and leaving the scuffle between team rocket and the police behind, Serena saw the first of their group standing at the wall. Trevor was leaning against the wall next to his charizard, scanning the forest for anything unusual. Ash indicated that they should be careful passing him, and they moved deeper into the woods to avoid his detection. The next person they encountered on guard duty was Calem, although he didn't appear to have a pokémon with him. Instead, he appeared to have dozed off. Wary of his awakening, Serena and Ash moved forward quietly. As Serena was wondering how far they would have to go just to run into Clemont, the scientist and his sister came into view, standing next to Luxray underneath one of the lanterns. Bonnie had a concerned expression on her face, while Clemont was staring at the wall, completely ignoring his guard duties. Serena wanted to question Ash about why Clemont wasn't even looking for them, but Luxray suddenly growled and stared directly at them. Serena felt a streak of terror run through her. She looked to Ash for help, and he calmed her with a confident glance. "Luxray has x-ray vision. It must be able to see us. That's why Clemont isn't bothering to look himself."

As Ash spoke, the growl caused both Clemont and Bonnie to snap to attention. "What is it, Luxray?" Clemont asked.

Luxray tilted its head towards where Ash and Serena were attempting to hide. Bonnie moved closer to her big brother for comfort. Clemont glared in the direction that Luxray had indicated. "Ash? Serena?" he called out hesitantly.

Serena and Ash exchanged a nod before stepping out of the dense foliage, into the light of the lantern. All of the trepidation immediately left Bonnie's face, and Clemont heaved a sigh of relief. "You're okay!" Bonnie exclaimed jovially, rushing forward and wrapping both of them in a hug as they tried to make their way over to Clemont. Ash and Serena smiled at the younger girl. "We missed you too, Bonnie," Serena said, surprising herself with how calm she sounded.

As the reunion concluded, Clemont got down to business. "I see team rocket was able to deliver my message in time. That's good. Are you two alright?" he asked, looking them over.

Ash nodded. "We're fine. What about you two? You made it sound like Jenny was completely mistrusting of you all. How did you get her to let you go to the shrine, let alone stand guard alone like this?" he questioned.

Clemont motioned over to the wall, and Serena made her way there with her friends. Getting closer allowed her to see that, unlike the smooth surface she had thought the wall had, spiderlike cracks ran along the entire structure, as did bushes and snaking vines that formed intricate patterns with the wall. "To put it simply, I didn't," Clemont answered as they gathered along the wall. "All I did was explain what happened to officer Jenny according to our plan, and she decided that, since you were loose, she would need our help catching you. Something about it being our responsibility. This setup was her suggestion, too. I'm not sure why she seemed so trusting of us after I told her I could tell the whole region what was going on, but here we are," he explained.

Serena looked along the wall. "What about the others? Where are they stationed?" she asked.

Clemont pointed down the wall. "You saw Calem and Trevor already. Tierno is the last person stationed on this part of the wall, down there. Sawyer, Eusine and Shauna are watching the opposite side wall with the help of some of the police. We have six cops, including officer Jenny. Kathi Lee is watching the back wall with some of Diantha's pokémon. Diantha... isn't doing very well. The poison in her was agitated by the teleportation she used to get here. I wanted her to rest, but she insisted that she has to complete the ceremony. I guess she is the official protector of the shrine. Hopefully Suicune can do something about the poison." He stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts.

Ash was rapidly putting pieces of a plan together in his mind. "Clemont, we learned from AZ and team rocket that Eusine was the one who attacked the champion. Inkay just went around the wall and confirmed that Eusine isn't guarding the wall anywhere, which means he snuck in already. We need to go after him. Can you get us over the wall with Chespin?" he asked.

Clemont nodded once, only for a bright light, stronger and more artificial than that of the lanterns to shine down on the four of them. "Freeze!" came officer Jenny's voice from somewhere in the bushes.

On instinct, the four trainers and their pokémon froze, but only for an instant. Ash was the first to react, and he had Greninja out and ready to battle before Jenny could even fully reveal herself. When she did, holding a small device in one hand and a poké ball in the other, she glared directly at Clemont. Another cop joined her, an arcanine at his side. Serena recognized the pair as the ones that had been guarding the river during their flight earlier that day. "I wanted to trust you, Clemont," Jenny started, with a hint of real regret in her voice. "I thought you had the interests of the region at heart when you tried to convince me to release Serena. I thought I was being paranoid by setting all of this up to see if you would somehow get the location of the shrine to those two fugitives. I even bothered with this little device to hide myself from x-ray vision, just so I could make sure that you weren't betraying us. I guess I was wrong about you."

Ash stepped forward before Clemont could respond. "We aren't the criminals, officer. We ran because we needed you to have a reason to let us go to the shrine. We needed a way to be here so we could catch the real criminal. You have to believe us," he implored.

Jenny shook her head. "That's a likely story. You didn't want to follow the guidelines I set down for you?" she questioned irritably.

Clemont shook his head. "Can you honestly say you would have let us to the shrine if we had done exactly as you asked?"

Though Jenny appeared to be slightly conflicted, she still spoke with authority. "I don't have time to listen to you four anymore. Are you going to come quietly, or not?" she said, the threat hanging in her voice over her ignorance of the question.

"But Eusine is the one who committed all the crimes!" Serena blurted out.

Jenny stared at her incredulously. "Nice try, performer. You have no proof of that," she insisted.

Ash stepped defensively in front of Serena. "It's true. We checked the perimeter. You were so invested in trying to catch us that you made it easy for Eusine to sneak into the shrine. We checked the perimeter. He's in the shrine right now, and if we don't stop him, he might hurt the champion, or worse. We don't have time to mess around here."

"I agree," Jenny said surprisingly. "That's why I made sure I would have backup in case you did turn out to be traitors."

At that statement, Trevor, riding on the back of his charizard, landed on a small patch of grass on the left of the trainers. From the other side, Tierno stepped out of the bushes, his blastoise at his side. Serena grimaced. While she had been fairly confident in her and the other's ability to take on officer Jenny, fighting the police, Tierno and Trevor at once was another story. She saw Ash tense up beside her, While Jenny, instead of gloating, frowned. "Where's Calem? I swear if he's just messing around somewhere again..." she trailed off as she pictured all the terrible things she would say to Calem if he was seriously slacking off at the moment.

Trevor shrugged. "I didn't see him while I was flying over here. I thought he had confronted the traitors already."

Clemont faced Trevor directly. "We are not traitors, Trevor. We're doing what we can to protect the region, same as you."

"What you're doing is threating our region's safety by attacking the champion. You made me look foolish when you proved that Sawyer was innocent. We'll see how it feels when I bring you four in," he spoke angrily.

Ignoring the obviously unreachable Trevor, Serena turned to Tierno. "Tierno, why are you helping them? Don't you know that I would never do anything like this?" she practically begged.

Tierno looked away. "What we talked about... that was before I knew what evidence there was. After I saw that, things made sense for me. I knew you had been messing with me from the beginning. It's who you are," he accused.

"No it isn't!" Ash yelled at Tierno. "How dare you accuse Serena of toying with anyone like that!"

The dancer flared up and glared at Ash. "You don't understand. You never understood, and you never will. After everything I've-"

"Enough," interrupted Jenny. "We'll do this without Calem. Like it or not, I have nobody left to suspect but the four of you. You can fight us if you want, but the other cops will be here shortly, and fighting will only make things worse for you. We can retrieve Eusine without what you would consider helping. What's it going to be?" she asked.

Serena found herself standing a bit closer to Ash and Clemont, with Bonnie cowering behind the three of them. Clemont glanced at his sister before angrily facing the cop. "If we fight now, we will both be too weakened to face the real threat. I will battle for my sister and for my friends for as long as it takes to make you understand that," he promised.

Luxray stepped forward angrily, fur bristling. Ash also adopted a battle stance, Pikachu and Greninja following his lead. "You aren't hurting Serena," was all he said.

Serena felt her hand resting on a poké ball. She knew that everyone was waiting for her to commit to the fight as well, but something was holding her back. _There has to be a way to solve this without fighting. If we battle, we'll just weaken each other, as Clemont said._ As she was trying to decide what to do, a small rustling in the bushes on Trevor's side of the confrontation caught his attention. He nodded to Charizard, and the pokémon began to walk towards the source of it the rustling, a dragon claw starting to form on its arm. Looking at the bush, it immediately came to Serena what was coming towards them. Instinct took over, and she flung her poké ball in the direction of the impending attack. "Sylveon, use protect!" she ordered as Charizard brought its claw downwards.

The fairy type emerged from its poké ball and immediately followed its trainer's orders, throwing up the beautiful barrier of green to stop Charizard's dragon claw dead in its tracks. There was an uneasy murmuring among the people surrounding Serena and the others. Trevor turned to Serena, genuine confusion on his face. "Why would you risk your Sylveon to help a wild pokémon that would get hurt if it wandered over here anyways?" he asked.

"That's not a wild pokémon," was Serena's response as the rustling in the bushes ended and Meowth stepped out, somehow even more beat up than it was when Serena had attacked it.

It was limping and clutching one of its arms with its paw, while its face was covered in various bruises. "Twerps... bodyguards...attack...police..." it managed to get out before collapsing on the ground, unconscious.

Everyone stared at the pokémon in a shocked stupor. Jenny finally frowned and crossed her arms uncertainly. "It could have been lying..." she uttered.

Before anyone could add to that, the forest rustled for another instant before a scizor burst out of the undergrowth, claws lit up for a bullet punch attack. It surged directly for officer Jenny, who barely had an instant to yelp in surprise before the pokémon was upon her. She closed her eyes in preparation for the blow, but felt nothing. Serena and the others gasped as Greninja practically appeared between scizor and officer Jenny, having acted seemingly without even Ash's directions. The bullet punch collided with one of Greninja's cut attacks, and they stood there, dead even. Bonnie gasped. "That's the pokémon that attacked us at the manor!" she cried out.

Ash glanced over to Serena for confirmation, and she nodded, still struggling to find words. "Take it down, Greninja," Ash ordered.

Greninja spoke its name once and pushed forward, sending scizor backwards. The attacking pokémon stabilized itself with its wings and came at Greninja again, bullet punch at the ready. Instead of blocking the attack, Greninja dodged to the side. When the scizor threw another punch, Greninja disappeared using its double team attack, reappearing behind scizor and slamming it in the back of the head with an aerial ace before it could even realize that it had missed. Jenny's mouth fell open, while Ash frowned at the scizor as it crumpled to the ground. "That scizor should have more stamina than that. Its trainer must have only taught it how to do surprise attacks," he commented while looking at the unconscious steel and bug type.

"You... protected me," Jenny uttered, in disbelief of her own statement.

"We aren't the enemy," Ash responded. "The enemy is attacking your men at the front of the shrine right now."

"We care about this region just as much as you do," Serena added. "Let us help you."

Clemont said nothing, but he glanced at Bonnie, who was gripping Clemont's leg for protection. He met Jenny's disbelieving gaze evenly. The message in his eyes was clear. Jenny glanced to Tierno, Trevor, and the other cop, who were all looking to her for direction. She stamped a foot on the ground in angry acceptance. "Tierno! Watch them! Everyone else, on me! We have to stop those body guards!" she ordered, forcing her leader persona back upon herself.

Trevor hesitated for a moment, still glaring angrily at Serena and the others, but a nod from Tierno convinced him to leave with the police, riding his charizard to the front lines. The small, closed in area opened up as three people deserted it, leaving Tierno alone with Ash's group and two unconscious pokémon. "We should check on Meowth," Serena pointed out.

With a nod, Clemont moved forward to inspect the pokémon. Tierno tensed up, but he said nothing. After a moment's inspection, Clemont sighed in relief. "Meowth will be fine. It just needs to rest. It won't be getting up until after this is over, though," he spoke, finishing his assessment.

That being done, Ash turned his focus to his rival. The two stared each other down for a moment. While he appeared to only be angry at first glance, Serena realized that Tierno was hiding a lot of pain behind his gaze. _Did he agree to this because of what I said to him?_ she wondered. Ash maintained a neutral expression. "We need to get into the shrine, Tierno," he declared.

"You need to stay here, like Jenny told you to," Tierno countered.

Serena decided to take the shot. She stepped between the two, "Tierno, if this is about what happened earlier today, then you should know that I-"

"Save it," interrupted Tierno. "You chose him over me. I know. That's the choice you made. I get to choose how to deal with that, and if there's any chance that you committed the crime, then I will choose to bring you in."

The pain in Tierno's eyes was so great that Serena could feel it emanating off of him. She realized what she needed to do. Even if she didn't feel the same way that Tierno did, the least she could do was help him get over her. "If that's how you really feel, Tierno, then attack me," she commanded.

Any sort of moxie Tierno was feigning disappeared. "Wait, what?"

She began to walk slowly towards Tierno. "You heard me. If you want to arrest all of us, you'll have to attack me."

As she continued to walk closer to Tierno, Blastoise cocked its cannons at the girl. "Serena!" Ash cried out, only for Clemont to hold him back from running forwards to block her path.

Ignoring the struggles of the people behind her, Serena continued her advance. "I'm not going to turn away until you attack me, Tierno. If you don't, then I'm going to walk right past you and leave. Are you going to let that happen? I'm guilty aren't I?" she asked, trying to goad him into action.

"...Yes..." muttered Tierno, taking a half-step backwards. "You committed the crime."

"Then attack me, Tierno," she insisted.

"I don't want to," he admitted.

Serena forced herself to frown. "I didn't ask you to tell me what you wanted to do. I asked you to attack me," she repeated forcefully.

At this point, Serena was nearly right in front of Tierno. The dancer was completely conflicted, unsure of his actions. "I'm going to ask you one more time, Tierno," she spoke calmly. "Attack me."

Tierno stared into Serena's eyes. Serena saw the pain he was feeling start to boil over into tears. "I... can't. I still love you, Serena! Is that what you want me to say?! Do you want me to feel worse about failing you than I already do?! Why won't you just go away?!" he yelled right in her face.

Serena leaned in closer to Tierno, and he shrank back a little in fear. Blastoise aimed its cannons at the two of them. The performer took a single breath and then hugged Tierno, wrapping her arms around him and embracing him tightly. She felt any sort of fight that Tierno had in his muscles drain away from him. "I'm sorry," she whispered to him. "I'm so sorry that I didn't see how much pain my actions caused you. I'm sorry I can't be the person that you want me to be. I'm sorry I wasn't able to be your friend when you needed one the most. Please forgive me."

The hug continued. Tierno didn't reciprocate the hug, or even react to it. When Serena released him and stepped back to give him space, he was staring blankly at her, like he couldn't comprehend what had happened. Tears continued to stream down his face, but he didn't change his expression. "I didn't realize what I was doing..." he murmured. "I didn't realize how much I would hate you for your decision. After all the effort I put into incriminating you, you ask me to forgive you?" he asked.

While Serena could still see plenty of pain in Tierno's eyes, something else was starting to come out. She wasn't certain, but she thought she could see some compassion returning to Tierno's countenance. "Yes, Tierno. It's all I can do when I make a mistake like this."

The dancer sniffled and rubbed his eyes, moving again. "You're being too kind. I don't deserve to be apologized to, after what I did," he practically whimpered.

Serena shook her head. "You made a mistake, Tierno, and you made a mistake because you were rightfully mad about having your feelings unreciprocated. I forgive you for that. I know you're a good guy, Tierno. Right now, the Kalos region champion needs good people to help her. Can you help us?" she asked.

Tierno met her gaze. "What can I do?" he asked, a new determination rising up within him.

Serena smiled warmly at him. "Go and help Jenny fight off the bodyguards. Ash and I are going after Eusine."

Wiping his eyes away completely, Tierno nodded. "Consider it done," he promised firmly before taking off into the darkness towards the now audible sounds of fighting.

The performer turned back to her friends. All three of them were staring at her with open mouths. She tilted her head. "What?" she asked, confused.

"That... took guts," Clemont finally said, shifting his glasses up his face. "I think Ash is rubbing off on you."

Bonnie started to cheer and jump up and down. "That was so brave! You're the best, Serena!" she exclaimed.

Serena blushed a little and thanked Bonnie for the praise. She focused on Ash, who was staring at her like she was a different person. She walked a little closer to him, concern starting to take over her face. "Ash? Are you alright? I hope you didn't mind... you know..." All the confidence she had used to confront Tierno and his problems head on abandoned her.

Ash actually blushed. "Oh, no, I guess I was just, you know, surprised, so I wasn't..." He trailed off, uncertian of what to say.

Unsure of what to do, Serena looked to Clemont, who shrugged helplessly. She turned to Bonnie, and immediately wished that she hadn't. The girl was smiling her ear to ear smile that she reserved for trying to make couples out of all her friends. "You two should kiss!" she exclaimed jovially.

Everyone who wasn't Bonnie immediately went red. "Bonnie!" Serena exclaimed loudly.

Ash forced himself to smile. "Bonnie, now isn't the time for that. The champion needs help," he pointed out.

Bonnie pouted. "It feels like it's never the time for that..." she complained.

Clemont sighed. "When you bring that sort of thing up, it automatically becomes not the time for it Bonnie."

"Ash is right," Serena spoke. "We're going over the wall to help protect Diantha. Clemont, Can you go let the others know what's happening if they don't know already?" she asked.

"I'll move as fast as possible," Clemont promised. "As soon as we've gathered everyone and defeated the body guards, we'll go in through the front to join you. Come on, Bonnie." He signaled to Luxray that they were moving out.

Bonnie shot Ash and Serena one more look that indicated her intentions to see a kiss before she followed her brother into the darkness. Serena refocused on Ash. "How are we going to get over the wall?" she wondered aloud.

With a smirk, Ash released his Noivern. The pokémon hovered in the air a meter or so above Ash and Serena. "Noivern, can you carry us over that wall?" Ash asked.

Noivern looked at the wall and then at Ash before nodding happily. "Great," exclaimed Ash. "We'll go one at a time. Ladies first?" he offered to Serena.

Serena smiled at his chivalry and cautiously mounted Noivern when it landed to allow a passenger to get on after she returned Sylveon. She held the white mane of the pokémon tightly as the pokémon took off again, flying much more slowly than it had when first released. With more precision than Serena had thought that Noivern had, the pokémon brought her over the wall and deposited her immediately on the other side. She felt proud of how far Noivern's flying skills had come. With an utterance of its name, Noivern took off again to retrieve Ash. Serena watched it leave before turning to take in the shrine she had now entered. Dotted around the entire perimeter of the shrine, in far more frequent numbers than outside the shrine, was the same ornate lanterns that decorated the outside of the wall. Id the outside of the wall had been efficient, then the inside of the wall was simply gaudy. She was standing in a sort of garden, with well trimmed bushes and trees that were just big enough to conceal her should she need to hide. A similar, symmetrical garden of various bushes and trees sat on the opposite side of the shrine from her. While the strange garden ran from one end of the shrine lengthwise to the other on either side, what really took up the majority of the space was the massive pond that sat in the center of the shrine. Lanterns placed strategically in a line across the pond revealed a path just under the water for people to walk on that created a circle in the middle of the pond, making the entire pond reminiscent of a poké ball. The pond itself was dotted with flourishing water lilies and lily pads. Surrounding the entire pond save for the river that the pond fed was a stone path, laid in stones of various sizes. The path was large, certainly large enough for the entire group to stand on should they want to. It looped around the pond, like an outer shield, and followed the river all the way to the door. The cycle was made complete by a simple wooden bridge that connected the two roads at the point where the pond became the river. The garden Serena found herself in was quite small in comparison. Lanterns also lined this path, and she immediately pressed herself closer to the wall to avoid detection. The only other structure in the shrine besides the pond, river, road and garden was a small house-like structure placed on the far side of the shrine opposite the entrance. It featured some sort of mirror structure on its roof that Serena assumed must be used in the festival ritual. Diantha stood in the center of the pond on the water bridge, leaning heavily on Gardevoir and with her back to Serena. As Serena finished taking all of this in, Ash landed and returned his Noivern. Greninja jumped over the wall with Pikachu on its shoulder and landed neatly next to the two. "Do you see Eusine anywhere?" Ash whispered.

Serena glanced around. Even with the numerous illuminating lanterns, there were still some areas frustratingly cloaked in darkness. "No. Why hasn't Diantha noticed the fighting?" she whispered back.

Ash stared at Diantha, then cast his gaze back to the front door, where fighting on the river was faintly audible. "Maybe she can't hear it," he suggested.

"Maybe she doesn't care," came Calem's voice from right next to the two where they crouched in the bushes.

Even Greninja was shocked by Calem's sudden appearance. When her heart had calmed down, Serena was able to realize that Calem hadn't only somehow appeared right next to them, he had changed clothes again. He had donned a red cap with a pair of sunglasses resting on the brim of the cam as well as black boots and blue jeans. What really caught Serena's attention was that he was wearing a jacket with the exact same design as Ash's shirt, albeit with long sleeves. Ash regarded him in confusion. "Are you stealing my clothes, Calem?" he asked.

Calem grinned. "I started my journey looking like this. If anything, you stole my look, but that's not important yet. The moon is almost in position, so the ceremony is going to begin. Watch carefully."

Serena frowned. "But Calem, Eusine is going to-" she started to say before Calem shushed her.

"Don't worry about it. We'll deal with it if it becomes a problem," he reassured them.

"What are you even doing here?" Ash asked him curiously.

Calem shrugged. "I was napping, I woke up and saw you two flying over here, so I thought I'd have Sanity teleport me in and see what my favorite fugitives were getting up to while everyone else was busy," the man explained causally.

Serena had several more questions she felt an urgent need to ask, but Calem had refocused on Diantha. Even though she was a fair distance away because of the pond, Serena could tell she was struggling to maintain her position because of the poison. The champion started to speak, but Serena couldn't quite make out the words. Gardevoir began to radiate a psychic energy, and some of the light from the moon felt as if it was being focused on the lens of the house at the end of the shrine before being spread across the entire pond, causing it to appear to be glowing. Serena stared at the phenomenon curiously. Then, without warning, a strong wind blew across Serena's body and nearly knocked her out of her hiding place, had Ash not grabbed her and steadied her. "The north wind..." he muttered in awe.

Before she could ask what Ash meant, a shadow was cast across the pond. Serena stared at the lens and saw none other than the form of what could only be Suicune standing in front of the lens. Diantha continued to speak, and after listening for a moment, the pokémon leapt towards the pond, landing just in front of Diantha. Instead of sinking into the pond, as Serena had expected, the pokémon stood on the water like it was land, and stared Diantha directly in the eye. In a spreading circle where Suicune landed, a green ring spread out across the pond and towards the river. When the ring passed a portion of the river, it left behind crystal clear water that Serena could see to the bottom of, even from her position. Diantha crouched down and took up some of the water in her hands, apparently drinking it. While she did so, Suicune leapt into the air again, landing on various points of the pond, spreading out a circle of purification where it landed. As it did so, Serena watched in awe as the river began to glow, the purification of the pond spreading throughout the entire river. _So this is the famous glowing river that everyone gathers to see every year..._ she thought as the faint sounds of battle outside the door faded away. It was certainly beautiful enough to warrant the hype it received, and she had to focus to keep herself from staring at it.

Suicune finished its purification process and again leapt so that it stood in front of Diantha. The champion had risen to her feet again, though this time she appeared to be standing on her own legs, without any assistance from Gardevoir. Serena realized that the ceremony must be nearly over, and Eusine hadn't shown himself. "The ceremony is nearly over," Calem confirmed. "Weren't you two supposed to be attacking or something? Being here to make sure nothing goes wrong is kind of pointless if nothing goes wrong."

"We didn't commit any of the crimes, Calem! You know that!" Serena whispered back insistently.

Calem shrugged again. "I don't, but okay. Oh look, there's Eusine. Maybe you didn't do anything wrong."

Ash and Serena whipped their gazes to where Eusine had appeared. He was standing at the edge of one of the water bridges that led to the center of the now glowing pond. His Alakazam stood by his side. "Suicune!" He yelled, loud enough for Serena and the others to hear. "Hear me! I demand that you have a battle with my alakazam!" he demanded.

"What is he doing..." muttered Ash. "We need to do something."

Calem placed a hand firmly on Ash's shoulder, stopping him from running off. "Ash, wait. We can't act just yet. Let the champion defend the ceremony first. We'll get involved if we have to."

Ash reluctantly obeyed, allowing Diantha to speak to Eusine. "What are you doing here, Eusine! This ceremony is not to be interrupted!" she decreed loudly.

Eusine pointed to Suicune. "Suicune knows why I'm here. If I do not capture Suicune now, then Suicune could be lost forever! You have to understand that I'm doing this with the best of intentions!" he called out.

Diantha exchanged a look with Suicune. She then turned to Eusine again. "Suicune agrees to battle with your Alakazam, on the condition that you leave the shrine when defeated."

Eusine nodded. "Accepted. Do it quickly, old foe."

Suicune almost looked like it was sighing before it launched an ice beam directly at Eusine's alakazam, freezing the pokémon solid, ending the battle before it began. Eusine stared at his pokémon, away from where Serena could see his expression. He said something that Serena guessed was an apology. "Now I will ensure that you leave," Diantha spoke angrily.

Gardevoir's eyes glowed, and it forced Eusine to levitate a few centimeters off of the ground, leaving him unable to move. Calem immediately reacted, forcing himself out of the bushes in a full sprint towards Eusine. Shocked, Ash and Serena followed him as quickly as they could. "You fool!" Eusine yelled out. "You don't understand-" He cut himself off when he noticed Calem approaching.

"Great job, Diantha!" Calem called to the champion.

Diantha seemed confused, but she smiled at Calem, at least until she noticed that Ash and Serena were behind him. "Calem! Ash and-"

"I know!" Calem interrupted. "They didn't do it!" he called to her.

As he spoke, the front door to the shrine opened, and people came pouring in on either side of the river. The police had all four of the body guards in handcuffs in the back, while officer Jenny and Clemont led the charge to the pond. The practical mob of people came to a confused halt where the river ended and the pond began as they properly took in the scene in front of them. "Champion, are you alright?!" Kathi Lee yelled out worriedly, flanked by what had to be the champion's pokémon.

"I'm fine, Kathi! The water cured me!" she yelled back.

Kathi Lee visibly sighed in relief while nearly everyone else took in the sight of Suicune. The pokémon stood stoically, but it was clearly uncertain of the trustworthiness of such a large crowd of people. Diantha spoke quietly to it, and it seemed to calm down a bit. Jenny was the first to focus her attention on Eusine. "What happened to Eusine?" she asked.

"He attacked Suicune," Diantha responded. "I believe he is the true culprit who attacked me."

Eusine shook his head in what would have been a frantic motion, had he not been suspended in midair. "I would never go as far as to physically harm someone to obtain Suicune! You'll pay for suggesting as such, champion!"

Uneasy murmuring began to break out among everyone. Calem turned to Ash and Serena. "You two should join the others. I'll deal with Eusine," he promised.

Serena exchanged a glance with Ash before acquiescing, moving to rejoin Clemont and Bonnie. While they received a few suspicious looks, nobody moved openly against them. The entire moment felt suspended in midair as the same question was running though every person's mind. Calem waved to get everyone's attention. "Alright, so here we are, standing in the shrine, with some arrested criminals, a guy that attacked Suicune, and a whole bunch of suspects. All we know is that this person attacked Diantha, most likely with a motive of catching Suicune. But I've been thinking. With all the trouble this guy went to, with all the hiring, the kidnapping, the attempted murder, with all of this insane amounts of planning, why is the target something as simple as a legendary pokémon?" he asked.

"What are you saying, Calem?" Shauna asked nervously.

Calem sighed. "I'm saying that anyone could catch Suicune if they stole directions to the shrine and caught Suicune off-guard." As soon as he said the word off-guard, Suicune winced in pain as a blaze kick from Blazekin was placed directly in its stomach.

The legendary pokémon went flying through the air in an arc, too stunned to react immediately as it soared towards Calem and Eusine. The blazekin kept going as it attacked, barreling forwards and smashing several lanterns hanging on the water bridge before coming to a halt on the bridge itself. Calem, instead of moving out of the way as several people yelled at him to do, casually pulled a purple poké ball with two pink circles on it and tossed it directly above him. The ball collided with the pokémon, and Suicune disappeared. Calem caught what Serena identified as a master ball in his hand and stared at it for a moment before placing it in his pocket. "What I'm trying to get at is that Suicune probably wasn't the main target here."


	19. Chapter 19: The Snowball Effect

"I think we still have a bit of time," Calem commented idly, checking his watch. "Who wants to tell me to release Suicune first?"

"Release Suicune right now, Calem!" Diantha demanded. "The people of this town depend on it to keep the river pure!"

Calem looked at the river in confusion. "I'm sorry, when was the last time you saw anything worse than a stray soda can in this river?" he asked. Nobody responded. "I thought so. Next complaint."

"Calem, I'm telling you that pokémon is protected under the law of this town. Release it now, or I'll have you arrested!" Jenny threatened.

The traitor actually laughed. "Will you? That's a nice thought. What makes this threat any more serious than every other one you've tossed my way over the years?" he questioned, spreading his arms out in a clear challenge.

Jenny took a single step forward, and Calem snapped his fingers. "AUGH!" Eusine cried out as one of his arms was suddenly bent at an awkward angle behind his back. He continued to cry out in pain while Calem regarded calmly the group in front of him. "That's as far as I can push him without breaking the arm, or so Sanity tells me. I'd rather not have to push it farther." As he spoke, Sanity appeared next to him, eyes glowing blue and one hand extended to indicate its power over Eusine.

Diantha stared at the new gardevoir in disbelief, before looking to her own gardevoir. The pokémon appeared to be just as surprised as everyone else that it had lost control of its target. It held out a hand to try and wrest control from Sanity, but nothing it tried stopped Eusine's pain. Diantha ended up holding on to Gardevoir supportively to prevent it from falling over with the effort of the psychic energy it was trying to exude. "If you couldn't beat Sanity while mega evolved, what makes you think you can win without mega evolution?" Calem chastised. "You think I didn't plan for every detail of this moment? Think about how many different times I had to make adjustments because two people had an argument or the wrong person ended up in the wrong place at the exactly wrong time! I'm fairly certain that I can account for a cop trying to arrest me, officer. Now, step back, if you would. Violence is the tool of savages." He waved a dismissive hand to Jenny to indicate that she should step back.

Reluctantly, Jenny complied, and Eusine visibly relaxed as Sanity released the pressure on his arm. Jenny stared at Calem with nothing but wrath in her eyes. "Even if this town no longer requires the water purification, there are other parts of the region, even the world that require Suicune's attention, Calem. Do you not understand that?" she asked angrily.

Calem's expression grew hard. "I am well aware of the fact, Jenny. I will ensure that Suicune continues to perform the duties required of it, even washing the already clean cinders of this town, if you're going to be insistent. I believe you're missing the point here, which isn't Suicune. Anyone?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"That evil blazekin is yours!" Bonnie called out at him before Clemont forced his sister to stand behind him.

Calem chuckled a bit. "You hear that, Six? You're evil now. Make sure everything you do from now on is evil." He focused his gaze on Bonnie as she stood behind Clemont. "Again, not the point, but nice try. I should apologize to you, Bonnie. I had no intentions of having anyone kidnapped, but it was clear that the only way to prevent Clemont from finding the truth was to send him on a pointless quest to find you instead of allowing him to see the clues behind the items I had stolen. Forgive me." He bowed respectfully.

"Are you crazy!?" Bonnie yelled at him. "I'm not forgiving you for that!"

Clemont again hushed his sister. "If this world wasn't populated by mad men, it would face stagnation," Calem responded evenly. "Speaking of which..." He turned and strode over to Eusine casually. He ruffled in the man's pocket and withdrew another master ball.

"Give that back!" Eusine spat angrily. "I spent years trying to retrieve that master ball!"

"I know." Calem responded. "I spent five seconds stealing it. It took you longer than it took me, that's for certain. Of course, I have a friend who's particularly good with poké balls on my side. I could have just waited for you to find a master ball for me, but I got impatient. Now I have two, so it all worked out, especially in terms of the pokémon that I can use it on." He turned to address the others again, only to be met with a very angry Sawyer running straight at him, hands balled into fists.

Without a word, without warning, Sawyer threw a punch directly at Calem's face. The man stared at it, almost in bemusement, before catching it with a lightning quick hand and allowing the momentum to keep Sawyer moving forward. When Sawyer had passed him, he let go of the boy's hand and delivered a swift kick to his back that sent him flying into the pond. "I know kung fu," he told the rippling water where Sawyer had fallen in.

Sawyer came out of the pond, sputtering. He flailed around helplessly for a moment before Calem sighed, reached into the pond and pulled the boy out with a strong arm. The green haired trainer coughed and sat on the edge of the pond, unable to do anything but shiver at the sudden chill of the water for a moment. "I expected more out of you, Sawyer," he chided. "At least use a pokémon if you're gonna try a surprise attack."

The green haired trainer forced himself to stand up, with visible effort. "You took advantage of me. You blackmailed me. You stole everything I cared about," he accused, still fighting hypothermia.

Calem stared down at Sawyer. "I gave you your journal back. I was always going to give your journal back. You need a hobby if that journal is everything you care about." He shot an almost regretful glance at Serena, confusing her. "I'm not going to explain myself to all of you. Most of you wouldn't even understand half of what I was saying. You did what you needed to do, Sawyer, and said nothing about it up until this point. For that I give you your photo and your promised reward." He dug into his pocket and removed a photo, which Serena saw was the photo of the hoenn region champion that Sawyer kept in his journal, as well as a key stone. He handed both items to Sawyer, pressing them into his wet and trembling hand.

Sawyer stared at the items. "I don't want your reward for helping you against my will. You hurt my friends," he accused, quiet anger overcoming him. "When I saw what you did to Diantha, I should have run away."

Calem tsked. "But you didn't. As expected, you tried to confront me, and I took your journal, forced you to take the blame, and freed myself up to accomplish... other things."

"What about what AZ told us?" Ash asked incredulously. "Why would he lie so many times to us?"

Calem again checked his watch and sighed. "He'll tell you himself if he ever shows up. I swear this guy needs to get himself a pokétch. In any case, while we're waiting, I can deal with another loose end. Sawyer, get out of here. I don't want to actually hurt you."

Sawyer glared daggers at Calem, but rose and exited, clutching both his photo and Calem's gifted key stone. "You will pay for this, Calem. I'm not letting you get away with messing with me or anyone else," he threatened, his call echoed by a few people in the crowd.

Calem shook his head. "What I have done I did out of necessity, not because I enjoy it," he spoke, deadly serious. Then he broke into a small grin. "This is what messing with people is." He snapped his fingers, and all four of the arrested body guards instantly doubled over, crying out in pain.

While the cops rushed to tend to their prisoners, Jenny glared daggers at Calem. "What did you just do?" she asked, barely controlling her voice.

Calem motioned to Sawyer, who had moved to stand beside Clemont. "I messed with them, just like Sawyer said. They shouldn't remember anything that happened to them after I contacted them for the first time," he explained.

"That's horrible!" Diantha yelled. "How could you abuse the powers of your pokémon like that?!"

"There has been no abuse here," Calem reassured the champion. "As I said, this was going to happen, and they agreed to it in their contracts, had you bothered to read one of them. I also agreed to help them get out of prison should they be arrested, but they won't remember that."

Serena felt her fists clenching. "Get to the point!" She yelled at Calem.

Calem whipped around, genuinely startled for an instant. Ash stepped a bit closer to Serena. "Serena..." he muttered, uncertainty in his voice.

Serena ignored her crush. "We get it, Calem. You took advantage of everyone. You stole from, kidnapped and hurt people, and you think making us guess why is funny. If it's not Suicune you want, then what do you want?" she interrogated, taking a step forward aggressively.

The trainer smirked. To everyone's surprise, he didn't punish Eusine for Serena's advancement. "I'm glad you of all people know when to get to the heart of a matter, Serena," he praised before checking his watch once more. "Unfortunately, I can't indulge you quite yet. What I can do, however, is ask for Bonnie to hand over her Squishy, as soon as possible preferably. Think of Eusine's health," he warned.

Bonnie gasped. "No way! You can't have Squishy! Squishy isn't mine to give away, anyways!" she insisted.

Calem frowned. "Okay, I might have lied a little bit. It was kind of annoying when Squishy ran away while I had you kidnapped. Sure, I got the chance to test out the pokémon's strength, but I had to wait until now to officially capture it. Another part of the plan that had to be adjusted, but I digress. I know it's a wild pokémon, but it's also still in your bag, Bonnie. I'm not going to walk over there and yank it out unless you force me to."

Ash turned to face Bonnie. "Bonnie, you can't give Squishy to him," he insisted. "Squishy's too important to just hand over."

"Do we have a choice?" Kathi Lee asked, startling Serena. The secretary had been standing in the back of the group next to a goodra and a hawlucha that had to belong to the champion. "Is Squishy really worth Eusine's life?"

Serena found herself agreeing with Kathi Lee. She loathed the idea of giving up Squishy, but Eusine was still a person that deserved to live. She glanced at him while trying to decide what to tell Bonnie to do and realized that something had ignited in Eusine's eyes. The man wasn't saying anything, but his gaze switched between her and Alakazam rapidly. Puzzled, Serena stared at the ice block that was Alakazam. As she was about to turn away from the sight, Alakazam blinked. Serena immediately looked away to hide her surprise. _Alakazam is still conscious! How did Eusine do that? Or did Suicune do it? He said he knew Suicune well. It doesn't matter. I have to use this to protect Squishy somehow..._ While Serena knew what Eusine had made available to her, she wasn't sure how to use it. While trying to decide, Bonnie took her bag off of her shoulder and opened it up, revealing Squishy, staring at Calem angrily. Calem tossed the master ball up and down in his hand. "Coming quietly?" he presumed, a bit of disappointment in his tone.

Bonnie shook her head. "I asked Squishy if it wanted to battle with you or just go with you. This is what it wants to do. We can't stop it from battling," she spoke quietly, voice full of concern and sadness.

"I see..." Calem mused. "Alright then. Make your choice, Squishy."

Serena glanced at Eusine and saw that he was staring very intently at her. On instinct, she drew a poké ball. An inkling of an idea was starting to form in her mind. She glanced at Ash and subtly touched his arm. He looked at her, curious, and she mouthed the words _be ready_ to him. Ash seemed a bit confused, but he told Serena with his eyes and a subtle nod that he was prepared. Squishy hopped out of the bag and started to glow as it prepared to transform again. As the green light began to shine again, Calem seized the chance and hurled Eusine's master ball at the pokémon while it was transforming. "NO!" Bonnie yelled as the ball arced through the air towards her beloved pokémon.

"Now, destroy it!" Eusine yelled, his eyes trained on the arcing master ball.

Serena reacted immediately, like she had been trained to do so. "Sylveon, fairy wind!" she ordered. "Send that master ball upwards!"

"Stop that. Sanity, stop that," Calem ordered. His answer was a grunt of distress from his pokémon.

Calem whirled around to see that the arm Gardevoir had extended to take control of Sylveon and its attack was shrouded in a blue light, as were Alakazam's eyes. Realization dawned on him, and he signaled to Six, who leapt forward and smashed the ice, sending Alakazam careening into a wall, but the distraction had worked. Before Sanity could refocus and stop Sylveon, the attack Serena had ordered made contact with the master ball, sending it upwards, far off of its intended path. Before Calem could regain control of the ball through Gardevoir, Greninja had leapt upon it on Ash's command, and it brought down a cut attack that sliced cleanly through the master ball. The master ball, now in two, fell to the ground uselessly as Squishy continued its transformation. Calem blinked in surprise. Then his eyes narrowed. He turned away from the now transformed Squishy and the broken master ball, facing Eusine. "Do you think that you're the only one who did their homework?" Eusine spat angrily at him. "I knew someone would betray us. I didn't think it would be you, but I was prepared nonetheless, as was Suicune. The only way I would be guaranteed to surprise you or anyone would be to make sure you thought Alakazam was out of the battle. You may have caught Suicune, but you won't leave with it," he asserted boldly.

"What clued you in to the idea of a traitor?" Calem asked, curious.

"I know everything there is to know about Suicune," Eusine boasted. "I knew Suicune was in trouble the moment I stepped into town for the first time. As much as I wish to catch the pokémon, its safety comes first. You're not as clever as you think you are, Calem."

Calem shrugged and slugged Eusine, right in the chest. The man grunted in pain, but the psychic energy holding him denied him any further expression of the attacks effects aside from the expression on his face. "Punching me... won't do anything. You still have no way to leave with Suicune."

Instead of responding immediately, Calem slugged Eusine again. The man coughed, struggling to breathe. "It makes me feel better," he responded over the angry cries of the group. "And for the last time, Suicune is a side thing, a means to an end, just like that Zygarde. If you insist on forcing me to continue to change my plans while I wait, then you'll suffer for it."

"Stop it, Calem! Just stop it! It isn't you!" Shauna cried out, tears in her eyes.

Serena turned to the girl, surprised that she had waited this long to speak out. She appeared to be an absolute wreck, and Serena suspected that she was only barely holding herself together in response to Calem's display of violence. Calem focused on Shauna, noted the tears, and his expression softened slightly. "Shauna, of course this is me. It always has been, and always will be. Me is the only thing keeping me alive out here. I tried to get you to see that, against my better judgement. I'm sorry you couldn't." He sounded genuinely regretful. "You know what I told you is still true. You're more than welcome to join me."

Words seemed to fail Shauna, but she managed to shake her head no empathetically. Calem sighed. "If you insist," he said before refocusing on Squishy. "Zygarde! That's the name, isn't it? Tell me I'm right. I know you can," he called out.

Squishy, in its four legged form, growled a little at Calem before nodding its head. "Zygarde..." Serena heard Ash whisper to himself.

She turned the word over in her head herself a few times. _Zygarde... so that's Squishy's real name. How did Calem know that?_ "How I know that isn't really relevant," Calem spoke, shutting down Serena's question before she could ask it. "What I want this pokémon to understand is that I know a lot of things about it. I've studied and trained relentlessly in the event that Eusine failed to produce a master ball, all so I could prevent any possible losing circumstance for myself from occurring. In other words, I can still beat you the normal way." He drew a poké ball and tossed it, releasing his garchomp, Sand, onto the field in front of Squishy.

Sand roared its name into the night sky, sending a shiver down Serena's spine. In the lantern light, she could see how terrifyingly powerful it actually looked. Ash stepped forward, as did Greninja. "I don't care how much research you've done. Greninja and I aren't going to stand for you hurting Eusine like that!"

Greninja took a preparative stance next to Squishy, who acknowledged the help with a nod. Dedenne also leapt forward and stood next to the two pokémon. "We won't let you hurt Squishy!" Bonnie exclaimed. "If Squishy chooses to battle, then we do too!"

There was a silent pause. Then, the sound of many poké balls opening at once. Serena looked around. Sceptile, Arcanine, the hawlucha and goodra, Luxray, Blastoise, Charizard, Gourgeist, Inkay, Arf, and even a slightly woozy Meowth all stepped forward to be near Squishy, having been manifested from their poké balls. "You took advantage of everyone, especially me," Sawyer got out angrily.

"You've attempted to attack the very heart of our region, and you will pay for it," Kathi Lee accused.

"I'm going to bring you in for breaking every law there is," Jenny promised.

"Nobody owns this region but us!" Team rocket sounded off in unison.

"I trusted you most of all, Calem," Trevor said, his voice catching as he spoke. "I broke friendships for you, because I trusted in you. I will fix my mistake right now."

"You're a dick, man," Tierno said simply.

"I will fight you in the name of Suicune and in the name of peace for our region," Diantha spoke, a twinge of regret tainting her tone.

"This is for what you did to Bonnie," Clemont stated, forcing his glasses up his face to brilliantly reflect the moonlight.

"Do you see them out there, Calem?" Eusine asked calmly. "Most of them hate me. They hated what I tried to do to break them apart, especially Serena. They don't care if I get hurt. You were the one who always spoke about bringing everyone together. You've succeeded."

Calem adjusted the brim of his hat and looked out at the small crowd. He gave no signal to Sanity to injure Eusine as punishment for the movement against him. "If I've succeeded, then why haven't they all stepped forwards?" he asked.

Serena glanced around the area. Shauna hadn't made any move to step forward, but then again she seemed rooted to the ground, paralyzed by the events happening around her. She turned her gaze back to Calem and realized that he was staring directly at her. Shocked, she tried to flick her gaze to Sylveon, only to realize that the pokémon was gone, Sylveon's poké ball out in her hand, as if she had just returned the pokémon. She instantly yanked her hand back to confirm that she had in fact just returned Sylveon and turned to Ash, who was staring at her with concern. "Serena, what's wrong?" he asked.

Serena stared at her hands. They were trembling slightly. _What's wrong with me? I was fine a minute ago. Why did I just return Sylveon?_ She looked at Calem. His stare pierced her, the same glint in the man's eyes having returned. It was strangely captivating, watching the unadulterated enthusiasm behind that stare Calem was giving Serena. She could feel it enveloping her, surrounding her being and forcing her to give it attention. She felt panic start to creep up upon her as she wondered if Calem was somehow messing with her mind. _Why is that stare so powerful? Why do I feel like... I've seen it before?_ Realization shot through the performer like a rocket. As her eyes widened, Calem's narrowed. "Curious," he spoke idly. "What stays your hand, when your friends stand at arms around you?"

 _It was when I saw myself perform for the first time_ , Serena remembered. _When I saw the second performance on television. Calem's look is the exact same look I had what feels like an eternity ago. I was so happy just to have made it in a presentable state to the second round. I was giving it my all, and I was doing what I felt like I was supposed to do, like I had been missing an essential part of my life up to this point. Is that what's going through Calem's head right now? Is this what he thinks he's meant to do?_ Knowing the source gave Serena the confidence to face it directly. She clenched her free hand into a fist. "I know that look, Calem," she spoke simply, her voice seeming to reverberate throughout the entire shrine.

Calem raised his eyebrows. "Do you? Do you really though?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "What do you see in my eyes?"

Serena took a deep breath. Everyone was watching her now. She closed her eyes. _The only thing that's going to get you through this is you. Pretend it's a performance._ The performer opened her eyes and allowed the invisible beat within her to take over. "That's a look of determination. It's a look that means you believe in what you're doing, that you won't ever give up until your goals are achieved. I hesitated, I panicked because of what I recognized in your gaze, Calem. I don't know why you feel so strongly about betraying all of your friends, and I don't need to know anymore. No matter how hard you try to pull this region apart, I promise you I will never let you win, so long as you persist in trying to destroy everything I care about." She began to walk as she spoke, until she stood in front of the line of pokémon that had formed, only a meter or two in front of Calem. If Ash and the others were protesting, she couldn't hear them.

The performer met the gaze of Calem evenly. He continued to regard her, even after she finished speaking. The shrine waited for a moment to send the tension over into explosive action. Calem's stare eventually began to fade, surprising Serena enough to cause her to tilt her head. At the confusion, Calem slowly chuckled, his small chortle evolving into a full hearty laugh that echoed throughout the shrine. "Brendan... and Lucas... are gonna kill me when they hear this!" he managed to get out between laughs.

Serena wasn't sure how to react. "Are... who are Brendan and Lucas?" she asked, lost.

Calem managed to straighten himself out long enough to respond clearly. He took a step forward and placed a hand on Serena's shoulder. As Calem leaned in to whisper to Serena, she could hear the sound of Ash rushing towards the two. "Watch what happens next very carefully," Calem whispered before he was shoved away from the performer by Ash.

"Stay away from her!" the trainer warned, barely controlling his anger. He turned to Serena. "Serena, come back to the others with me where it's safer," he urged quietly.

Serena cast one last glance at Calem, who waved her on pleasantly. He had clearly allowed Ash to push him away. She motioned to Sylveon, and followed Ash away from the traitor. When they were roughly halfway back to the group, Serena heard Calem's voice, icy cold on her back, behind her. "Six, if you would," he commanded.

She didn't have time to turn around before she felt Ash's arms around her, shoving her to the ground. Thinking on her feet, the performer did a half turn to prevent her face and Sylveon's poké ball from hitting the ground, only for pain to explode in the cheek that she exposed to the air. Through blurry vision, she saw the form of the blazekin, Six, standing over the two of them. She thought she saw one of the pokémon's claws dripping with something before she met the ground and all the air left her body. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment after that. She could tell that Ash was still gripping her tightly. That felt nice, as she would have expected. It was warm, oddly familiar. What made less sense was the sound of fighting occurring somewhere above her. Like a newborn, she forced her eyes to adjust to the scene above her. Greninja was attacking Six, slashing and hacking furiously, to the point where the fire type was essentially just defending itself, unable to match Greninja, even with its incredible speed. With a swift yet powerful motion, Greninja struck at Six's chest, and the two were sent backwards, towards the pond and away from Serena. Ash gripped her more tightly, and Serena noticed that the same look she had seen in Calem's eyes was igniting in her crush, fierce yet authoritative. Her next sensation was that of water running down her face. _Am I crying? Why am I crying?_ she thought.

The performer placed a hand to her eyes, but came up dry. Confused, she moved her hand over to her cheek, and another sting of pain shot through her. Startled, she removed her hand immediately, and looked at it. Her finger was red. While she had been doing this, Ash had begun fumbling in his pocket with one hand, the other hand still protectively around Serena. He pulled out the blue handkerchief she was so familiar with and pressed it gently to her face. She wanted to complain about the pain, but she felt strangely silenced by the unexpected sight of blood on her finger. "Stay down, Serena." Ash instructed. "You're hurt."

The words jogged Serena's memory, and seemed to ignite an indignant rage in Ash that she could feel just being next to him. She had been in the middle of confronting Calem. Purpose coursed through her. "Let me up, Ash," she instructed with just as much firmness as he had used.

Conflict arose in Ash's eyes, the battle between listening to Serena and protecting her being declared, waged, and decided all in an instant. "Let Clemont look at that before you jump in," he compromised.

Nodding caused more pain to enter Serena's brain. She took the handkerchief from Ash's hand and allowed him to help her stand up. She raked her brain for the words to comfort some of the frustration on Ash's face, but strangely, nothing came to her. She could feel many pairs of eyes watching her, waiting for some sort of indicator of her condition. She turned to the river, still glowing its unnaturally beautiful green. In the clear water, she was able to see her reflection clearly. Steeling herself, Serena removed the blue handkerchief from her face to reveal a long cut, running from just under her eye to the bottom of her chin. Had Ash not shoved her, Six's claw could have gone down her back. She shuddered at the thought, sending a few drops of her own blood into the river. The droplets, rather than being absorbed by Suicune's purifying power, started to slowly flow down the river in the exact same form they had taken when they entered the river. Serena placed the blue handkerchief again on her cheek, using it to cover an injury for the second time. Greninja continued to spar with Six until Calem, who had been staring intently at Serena, raised a hand, and Six immediately shoved Greninja away and returned to its trainer. "I told you to pay attention, Serena. You could have been killed," Calem spoke, as if he was disappointed.

Serena drew on anger within herself to inspire a response. "What is wrong with you?! What could you possibly have to gain from attacking me like that?!" she demanded.

The trainer shrugged. "I'm proving a point to myself, more than anything else. No matter how violent I get, I can't do anything permanent. Not yet. On any other day, Six would have run you through, no questions asked. Somehow, my friend, you were saved by a trainer that is much slower than my Six. You could ask why, but I don't really know or care. What's really important is that-"

"Shut up," Ash interrupted. "Nothing you say could possibly make attacking Serena okay. None of us will stand for it," he spoke calmly, standing between her and Calem.

Serena threw a glance to Greninja. Surprisingly, the pokémon hadn't reacted with a transformation into its other form. Ash himself had locked eyes with Calem. She turned back to the pokémon and people behind her. Everyone, even Shauna, had slowly started to advance towards the traitor. The only person not focused on Calem was Clemont, who was glancing apprehensively at Serena's injury. Calem grinned. "You all want to fight. Great. Fantastic. Problem: I'll be honest, I'm only really interested in fighting AZ. Will you indulge me, buddy?" he asked, motioning to the back of the small crowd.

People whirled around. Even Diantha, who had been facing the right way from the start, seemed to gasp as she saw AZ standing at the back of the crowd, like he had been there the entire time. The crowd parted, in more shock than reverence. The tall man's gaze had been sweeping around the area, pausing only on Serena. When Calem called him out, he seemed to sigh and glance at the river. "You spilled blood in the river, Calem," he rumbled, taking a step towards the river in question.

"I spilled the blood of a trainer, yes. Even you cannot deny the meaning behind that," he amended calmly.

"She is unenlightened," AZ spoke, unmoved.

A frown creased Calem's face. "She is from my region. Don't think I would have done this if you had given me any other option. You could have given me the key years ago, avoided all of this."

"That was never going to happen," AZ spoke, again fingering his necklace. "I withheld my right to judge you on your own merit, regardless of what Olympia said."

"What are you two talking about?" Jenny asked incredulously.

"Judge me then," Calem challenged, ignoring the cop. "Give me the chance to prove myself. You and I both know what's going to happen if I can't convince her."

AZ threw another quick glance at Serena, his eyes full of conflict, of a life that Serena hadn't expected to be visible in the eyes of the man. He turned back to Calem almost immediately. "You have earned the right to challenge me. That is all I will acknowledge."

Calem visibly sighed in relief. "I appreciate that. Three versus three?" he suggested.

AZ shook his head. "One versus one."

The trainer actually seemed surprised. "Does that mean-"

"Do you want the key or not?" AZ challenged, with some vigor injected into his voice.

Calem smiled. "Alright, old friend. If that is what you wish, then I will accommodate you."

"ENOUGH!" Jenny barked loudly, sick of being ignored. "AZ, what do you think you're doing, barging in here like this? We're in the middle of trying to arrest-"

"Please shut up," Calem ordered angrily. "Do you not understand how important this is? The future of this world depends on the outcome on this battle. Eusine dies if any of you interrupt," he threatened.

Uneasy murmuring began. Ash grimaced. "Let them battle," he spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"But we can arrest him right now!" Trevor protested.

"Not while he has Eusine," Diantha spoke loudly. "Listen to Ash. These two will have their battle, and then they will both answer for what they've done. They have nowhere to go."

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," Calem responded jovially, before turning to Serena. "Get Clemont to look at that cut. Make sure the damage isn't permanent."

Serena started to scowl, but her injury was inflamed, and she forced herself to maintain a neutral expression. "Why do you care?" she asked.

"Another place, another time," Calem responded, waving off the question. "We're battling on the pond. Diantha, move."

Diantha stared daggers at Calem, but she obeyed, teleporting away with her gardevoir, reappearing next to Kathi Lee and her pokémon. "A reminder that I can easily follow you should you try to teleport away," she warned.

Calem just shrugged and turned away, pacing towards the water bridge leading to the center of the pond. AZ walked through the path made for him by the parted crowd, towards the other side of the water bridge. Squishy stared at AZ for a moment, then turned and paced back to Bonnie without a sound. Bonnie stared at Squishy curiously for a moment. "Squishy wants the battle to happen," she announced.

Like a switch had been flipped, all the pokémon in the area turned and paced back to their trainers. Greninja and Six stared at each other down for a moment before retreating to their respective trainers. All of Calem's pokémon flanked Sanity protectively, should someone attempt to free Eusine. The prisoner himself had been moved off to the side, near where Alakazam had been sent flying. Everyone else slowly began to gather at the edge of the pond, enthralled by the strange turn of events. In what felt like an instant to Serena, the only people not surrounding the river side of the pond to watch the imminent battle were Serena, Bonnie, Ash and Clemont, the latter two more concerned with Serena's wound and Bonnie following Clemont, a strange, distant look having overtaken her since Squishy's transformation. She didn't appear to have fully processed the turn in events yet. Clemont held out a hand to Serena's injury. "Let me get a closer look," he instructed.

Serena removed the handkerchief gingerly. Ash grimaced, but he attempted to hide it immediately, instead turning to block Bonnie's view of the injury. Clemont simply moved forward, his small first aid kit already withdrawn from his bag. He tentatively probed the cut with a cotton pad, clearing away the crimson and revealing the source of the problem. The scientist visibly relaxed as he worked, and Serena would have mirrored his relief had facial expressions not still been painful. "It's not good, but I don't think it's deep enough to be permanent or to have hit anything important," he evaluated.

"How do you feel?" Ash asked. "Is it painful?"

Serena turned to meet the empathy in Ash's countenance. She searched for a suitable answer to sum up her feelings. "It's... nothing I can't handle," she finally responded.

"That's not what I asked," Ash spoke. "If it's really hurting you, tell me so Clemont and I can help you."

Something in Serena cajoled her to remain obstinate. "Ash, I'm fine. It's just a cut," she insisted.

Ash leaned forward and inspected the wound. "I don't want you to fight with that injury," he spoke.

Serena immediately frowned, ignoring the pain. "Calem has to answer for what he's done. You can't expect me to run from danger while you're always running towards it, Ash."

"I don't have a bandage large enough to cover that cut," Clemont interjected while Ash stared at Serena in a strange sort of confusion. "Here, rub this on it. It'll stop the bleeding so long as you don't aggravate it afterwards." He handed Serena a salve contained in a small bottle.

While she absentmindedly rubbed the ointment on her cheek, Serena focused on Ash to help her ignore the inflammation running along her face. She hadn't expected her words to elicit such a strange reaction from her crush. "... You're right," the boy finally admitted. "I can't expect that. But... I couldn't protect you. Y-you still got hurt, and I was standing right next to you." He looked away, and to Serena's shock, he appeared to be close to tearing up.

Serena's heart went out to the boy in front of her. He was clearly heading into a dark place, and the reason that Greninja had failed to transform suddenly became clear to her. _He's feeling guilty that I got hurt. He won't transform because he feels like he failed already._ Serena returned the ointment to Clemont and firmly gripped Ash's shoulders. "Ash, snap out of it," she commanded.

Ash blinked. "W-what?" he stuttered quietly.

"I said snap out of it," the performer repeated. "I got hurt. People get hurt. You did your best to keep me safe. That's all you can do. If you keep beating yourself up like this, you won't be able to fight at your fullest potential right now, when we need your help the most. So snap out of it. Be the Ash I fell in love with."

The word love sparked the interest of both Clemont and Bonnie, but the two trainers ignored the eyes of their friends. "Serena..." Ash muttered. He still appeared unsure of himself.

Serena raked her brain for something to break Ash out of his stupor. His eyes had dulled. The fire in them was muddled among confused spots of dullness. In the lantern light, she could see that he was even trembling a bit. His hands opened and closed restlessly. He was uncertain. _So make him certain._ Serena acted on her impulse.

With the utmost caution and precision, Serena leaned forwards and placed a small kiss on Ash's cheek. Before pulling back, she whispered in Ash's ear, "I'm not going to let you give up on yourself until it's over."

When she leaned back, Ash placed a hand on the spot where she had just made contact. She could only imagine what he was feeling in that spot, if it was anything like the burning pain she felt from her injury. It wasn't exactly the ideal setting, but she realized that she was testing how much Ash really understood what they had said back in the woods. Another silence passed around the shrine. Then Ash grinned his toothy grin. "I'm really dense, aren't I?" he asked.

Serena laughed in spite of herself. "You have no idea, Ash," she responded, slightly teasingly.

Clemont cleared his throat loudly, drawing the attention of Ash and Serena. "They're about to start," the scientist informed the two, pointing across the pond.

Ignoring the gawking of Bonnie, Serena let go of Ash's shoulders, only for him to reach out and take one of her hands. She was surprised at the action, but didn't resist. "When the time comes, promise me you'll stay close," he muttered to her.

"Always," she responded immediately, smiling warmly at her crush.

Ash visibly loosened up. "Then I have nothing to fear," he spoke, holding his confident smile.

The group of four stepped forwards to join the crowd. Clemont and Bonnie moved to the edge of the group, near where Kathi Lee and Diantha were standing, both ladies holding folded arms and scowls on their faces. Serena and Ash prepared to join them, but Calem held up a hand to grab everyone's attention. "Make room for Serena," he ordered, motioning to the spot on the bridge over the mouth of the river where Shauna and Trevor were standing.

Both trainers shot Calem angry glances, but heeded his order rather than risk Eusine's health. Shauna in particular looked hurt that Serena was being singled out, and she shot angry looks at the performer as she moved to join Tierno. Serena tried to think of something to alleviate her friend's anger, but nothing came to her. She didn't even know why Calem was calling her out the way he was. When she and Ash took the place he had created for them, the trainer frowned for an instant when he noticed the hand holding. This expression was hidden almost immediately, but Serena saw it just as easily as she had noticed the glints in the trainer's eyes. "I want you to witness this, Serena. You have to see the truth for what it is."

"Why are you singling me out? What did I do to you?" Serena called back to the man where he was standing at one side of the water bridge.

Calem sighed. "One thing at a time. Are you ready, AZ?" he asked.

AZ nodded wordlessly from the other side of the water bridge. "Who is the judge?" he rumbled.

"I will judge," James spoke from a spot to the left of Serena. "Just fight already."

AZ appeared satisfied, despite the lack of official status conferred onto James, and he withdrew a poké ball. "As I said, this is a one on one battle. I would encourage you to try, Calem." The old man followed up his challenge by tossing the poké ball high into the air with surprising strength and vigor. With a sound akin to a gasp, the poké ball he hurled burst open, and a floette came out. At first, Serena thought it was a regular floette that was floating in front of AZ over the water bridge, but as it drifted closer to the lantern light, Serena realized that the green parts of its body were blue, and it was carrying a red flower that the performer had never seen before, let alone with a floette. It hovered close to AZ, and Serena could tell that AZ was extremely attached to the pokémon. "Are floette stronger when they look like that?" Serena asked Ash quietly.

"This pokémon has seen death before," AZ cautioned Calem. "You will not fell it."

Ash frowned. "I don't know. It doesn't look like any floette I've ever seen."

Calem shrugged. "You must be desperate, man. I apologize in advance. Suicune that I haven't named yet, go!" He chucked the master ball out into the pond, releasing the suicune and allowing it to stand on the water effortlessly.

Where Suicune landed, another ring of purification spread out over the river. The shrine held its breath, waiting to see if the pokémon would turn on its trainer. Instead of doing this, Suicune turned and nodded to Calem. An audible gasp came from Eusine, but Calem grinned. "That's no ordinary foe, new friend. Let's take this nice and careful."

James waved a hand in the air carelessly. "Start. Get it over with," he said, rather uncaring to the whole situation.

Calem threw a hand out dramatically. "Suicune, use... ice beam?" he guessed, clearly uncertain of what Suicune's move set was. The trainer began to check his pokédex while Suicune fired the same beam of ice that had immobilized Alakazam directly at the small pokémon.

AZ said nothing, but the floette immediately got out of the way. Calem didn't even notice, too busy investigating his pokédex to see if he was actually winning the battle. "Petal Blizzard," the large man spoke gruffly.

Floette spun around once, and the wind picked up around it, spreading across the entire pond and even to the people watching the match. Serena clung to her dress with her free hand to prevent it from blowing around. Ash gripped her hand with more force. Pikachu took cover behind Greninja. As the wind continued, petals began to appear, surrounding floette until it was enveloped in a literal blizzard of petals. The blizzard began to expand, over the pond and towards Suicune. Calem grinned wildly. "Wait for it to slow down. Patience is a virtue!"

Suicune responded by taking a few steps backwards, releasing purifying rings with every step that immediately removed any stray petals that had fallen into the pond as a result of Floette's attack. The blizzard halted just past the mid point of the pond. Disappearing lights indicated that the lanterns on AZ's side of the pond had been completely uprooted and destroyed. "Push it. Petal dance," AZ ordered.

There was no way of knowing if Floette had heard the order, but a stream of petals, the same color of the flower that Floette had, suddenly rocketed towards Suicune from a strange angle in the blizzard, striking it and forcing it backwards. Calem frowned. "I should have known your strategy would be hiding. It won't work. Clear the petals with hydro pump, Suicune."

Suicune opened its mouth and fired a strong stream of water into the blizzard, far stronger than anything Serena had seen out of Blastoise. The water pierced a hole in the petals, briefly allowing AZ's face to be visible to Calem before the petals covered up the hole that Suicune had created. In response, another stream of petals rocketed out of the blizzard and slammed into the legendary pokémon, this attack nearly toppling the water type. "Every attack is super effective." Ash commented. "Floette can win if Calem doesn't change strategies."

Silently, Serena rooted for AZ while Suicune struggled to maintain its balance on the water. Another stream of petals fired off at the pokémon, but it was able to leap into the air to dodge the attack this time, without Calem's command. Calem only appeared to be slightly concerned for Suicune's condition. After all the buildup the man had provided for the battle, he seemed to be taking it even less seriously than the other battles she had seen him participate in. "Alright, Suicune, do another dodge. Make it flashy, if you don't mind," he requested.

Suicune dodged before the next round of petals could even come close to it. Serena couldn't figure out what Calem's plan was. As long as Floette stayed in the blizzard it had created, there was no way Suicune could get to it. Calem smirked. "You're in the clear, buddy. Put a full power hydro pump into the center of the pond."

Suicune took its head back and seemed to focus momentarily before another stream of water, larger than the one before it, shot out and collided with the center of the pond. The glowing green water shot up in a tidal wave, colliding with the petals and instantly evaporating them on contact. Serena gasped. _He's using the purification of the pond against the blizzard!_ The wave of green water from the hydro pump finished its course across the blizzard, and when the water settled, Floette floated in the air alone, without a single petal around it save the ones on its flower.

To make matters worse for the pokémon, it appeared to be confused, throwing its gaze around the area like it didn't know where it was. Serena vaguely remembered Ash mentioning once that moves like petal dance could inflict confusion on the user. Calem clearly knew this fact well. "Ice beam it," he ordered.

"Dodge," AZ countered.

Floette immediately snapped to attention and moved away from the ice beam. "Floette will always listen to my command without fail," he informed his foe. "Use wish."

With another turn of its flower, Floette sent a shining spec of light up into the sky, where it disappeared. Serena tilted her head in confusion, almost causing her cut to bleed again. "It will give Floette health in a few attacks," Ash informed the performer. "AZ is anticipating taking damage."

AZ stood up straighter, making him look even taller in the light of the few lanterns that remained around the pond to illuminate him. "It is time. Floette, use light of ruin!"

Floette raised its flower like a cannon and aimed it at Suicune. The pokémon began to glow pink as it gathered some sort of power from its flower. Then, all at once, the pokémon fired a massive beam of pink energy that streaked across the pond and moved to Suicune at blinding speed. "I've never seen that attack before..." Ash muttered.

Calem just smirked. "Checkmate. Suicune, mirror coat!" he ordered.

Immediately, Suicune formed a protective clear barrier in front of it. The light of ruin attack moved straight into the attack, disappearing completely into the barrier, forcing it to glow pink. Nothing happened for the eternal moment before the attack suddenly rocketed back out of the mirror coat towards its sender. Serena looked to Floette for it to move out of the way, but the pokémon was instead clutching its flower tightly in pain as pink sparks danced around it. Serena had enough time to realize that the attack forced Floette to take recoil damage before it was enveloped in the pink beam it had created. An explosion sounded off and appeared where Floette had been just a second ago. While she waited for the water to settle, Serena felt panic seize her, and she tightened her grip on Ash's hand. Whatever happened next, she knew that Calem winning was the worst possible outcome. When the water calmed, Serena let out a breath to see Floette very much still standing, its body enveloped in a green light that appeared to be energizing it. "Wish activated," Ash pointed out, focused intensely on the battle.

"Floette can take much more than even it can dish out, Calem," AZ practically taunted. "You cannot end it with regular attacks."

Calem's smirk was retained. "I'm aware of that. That's why it pains me to have to use sheer cold. Make sure you get in close, Suicune."

Suicune began to glow a light blue, and ice formed on the pond where it was standing. A chill swept through the shrine, and people huddled slightly closer together in response. Serena pressed herself a bit nearer to Ash for warmth. AZ stood up straighter. "Flee, Floette. Move with a petal blizzard."

Floette began to spin again as Suicune leapt into the air towards its prey, seeming to exude ice out of its body. Just as Suicune was about to land on its target, Floette darted away, leaving a mess of petals where it had been hovering. Suicune landed on the pond, creating a jagged platform of ice where it stood. "Faster, Suicune," Calem urged.

Suicune roared its name and took off running after the Floette. The pond slowly began to freeze over as it walked, further illuminating the area with the strange green light as the purified water was crystalized in ice. Floette continued to dodge, scattering petals as it fled. Serena couldn't figure out why Floette was bothering with the petals, but Ash seemed to understand something that she clearly didn't, and was nodding in admiration of AZ. She wanted to ask him what AZ was doing, but Ash pointed to the ice. "The petals aren't disappearing anymore," he commented.

Serena realized that Ash was right. the petals, unable to reach the purifying water, sat limply on the ice that Suicune had created and continued to create as it chased Floette around the pond. Before long, the majority of the pond had frozen over, and Suicune was finally forced to pause. It was still enveloped in the blue glow, but the effort of maintaining the attack had clearly taken its toll on the legendary pokémon. Floette wasn't looking much better, panting among the petals it had scattered that now dotted the entire frozen pond. Calem grinned wildly. "Stalemate. I can easily tell Suicune to send the attack out in a wave, but it runs the risk of missing. You can use those petals to attack Suicune, but Floette will have to stop moving long enough for Suicune to hit it to control them. Not to mention I can destroy the ice, tell Suicune to chase you until Floette slips up, though I risk Suicune running out of energy by doing so. What did I miss?" he asked.

AZ's brow furrowed. "You missed the obvious point. I should hope you've learned enough to see the easy out I've provided for you."

He crossed his arms, and Floette began to spin around slowly. The petals on the ice stirred, restless, ready to spring into action at their master's command. Suicune took a pace backwards, uncertain. Calem, rather than grin cockily, became shockingly solemn. "This is where it ends then, my friend. Suicune, use ice beam on the ice."

The pokémon of the north wind released a frigid ice beam across the pond, leaving jagged points of ice wherever it touched. Serena tilted her head in confusion, only to realize that Suicune was trapping the petals on the ice with more ice, preventing Floette from using them. AZ frowned. "Close, but not quite what I was hoping for. Use petal blizzard," he commanded, with some regret in his voice.

Floette spun again, and the petals Suicune had encased in ice practically leapt out of the ground to join the petals that Floette was adding to its attack as it spun. Suicune, distracted by trying to freeze the ice, was immediately battered by petals and shards of ice, a literal blizzard having now been added to the petal blizzard. "Mirror coat!" Calem ordered immediately.

Through the storm, Suicune began to glow, forcing the petals and shards of ice away from its body. "Get in close and sheer cold it," he commanded.

"That will not work for you," AZ warned.

"Can Floette control ice?" Calem responded.

Floette was preparing to dive into the petals to hide, but as it did, a stray ice shard slammed into the pokémon, stunning it briefly as Suicune ran forward towards its target. Floette continued to try to move, but it found itself struck with a stray ice shard every time it tried to move too far from where it was hovering. "Thanks for surrounding yourself with ice," Calem spoke. "End it."

AZ stared intently as Suicune reached its prey. Suicune raised its head, again glowing light blue, before it fired a concentrated beam directly at the essentially immobilized Floette. There was the sound of the very air around the pond freezing, as well as the pained cry of Floette, before the entire shrine fell eerily silent again. Slowly, the petals and ice shards began to fall away, into the pond, where they disappeared on contact. The mist created from the massive sheer cold attack began to dissipate, and Suicune's outline became visible. When she could see the pokémon clearly, she gasped as she saw that Floette was perfectly frozen in a block of ice in the center of the pond, where Diantha had been minutes before. The scene eerily reminded Serena of the fate of Alakazam. Suicune stood, breathing heavily, yet still standing, while Floette appeared to be completely immobilized. Calem smiled slightly. "I don't think Floette can get out of that, but I'm also certain it's still conscious. Will you forfeit?" he asked.

The large man regarded his pokémon with what could be considered some sort of pride. "You froze Floette, rather than knock it out. Was that mercy, or strategy?" he asked.

Calem shrugged. "Both. I know better than to try and knock out your pokémon. That being said, if I've learned one thing from you, it's that the most compassionate intentions can be far more dangerous than the most murderous ones."

He threw another glance at Serena, and she felt herself stiffen. Ash looked at Serena questioningly, but she didn't notice immediately. All she could wonder was why he was suddenly giving her so much attention, considering that he had attacked her at the same time. She felt another gaze burning into her, and she realized that Shauna was staring at her as well. _Why can't Calem see what he's doing?_ She thought.

"Calem wins. Now let us fight Calem," James spoke, extremely impatient.

AZ ignored James. "You are causing Floette to suffer by saving it from being potentially killed."

"Sound familiar, doesn't it?" Calem pointed out. "Suicune, release Floette."

Suicune turned its head to the side, and the ice holding Floette shattered, disappearing into the purified water. Floette began to fall, one of the petals left from its attack falling limply from its flower as it dropped. AZ immediately returned his pokémon. The petal that had fallen with Floette continued to fall into the pond. Unlike all the other petals, it didn't disappear, instead floating lifelessly on top of the glowing water. AZ began to walk forward, still gripping the poké ball tightly in his hand. He only paused when he reached the center of the water bridge. Calem mirrored the action, and the two combatants found themselves standing within arms length of each other in the center of the pond. Diantha took a step forward. "The battle is over. Calem won. Now we need to-"

"Are you familiar with the Kalosean legend that occurred three thousand years ago?" Calem interjected, facing the champion.

The champion started, caught off guard at the interruption. "I... yes. Don't change the subject. We're talking about-"

"The legend regarding the man who committed mass murder in vengeance for the death of one pokémon. That's what we're talking about," Calem interrupted again. "Serena, you know the legend, don't you?" he asked, turning to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Would you stop calling me out?!" Serena yelled, the sudden outburst surprising even her. "Can't you see what you're doing to everyone? To Shauna? Why are you insisting on singling me out now only to attack me, huh? Answer me, Calem!" she shouted, taking a large step forwards to the point where Ash was basically holding her back from falling into the pond.

Calem looked her up and down. "Oh, Serena..." he muttered nearly inaudibly. "Just... I can't talk about it here, alright?! You have no idea how much I've had to hold back from you. If you had any idea exactly what was at stake here-"

"Why don't you just tell us what's at stake then?" Ash interrupted. "What do you want, Calem?"

Calem's face hardened at Ash's words. "I want that key on your neck, AZ," he declared.

AZ had been holding the necklace in his palm, and when Calem made his declaration, he gave it a swift yank, forcing it off of his neck and into his hand. "Both the petal and the blood of a trainer went unpurified in the water," AZ commented.

Calem held out a hand. "Those things were pure. The petal came from a pokémon, not from an attack, and the blood... hasn't learned yet. Your key is cursed, bound by the legend, just as you are."

While Serena suppressed the urge to yell at Calem again for his baffling words towards her and otherwise, Trevor spoke up. "Are you babbling about that children's tale, then? The one parents tell kids to warn them not to be vengeful? A man sends a pokémon to fight in a war, the pokémon dies, he builds a weapon to bring it back to life, and then he wipes out both sides in vengeance with the weapon, cursing him with eternal life and separation from the pokémon he revived?"

Calem nodded. "You got it right for once, Snap. You're looking at the definite article, the man who carried the burden for what he had done to this day for three thousand years."

"That's impossible," Clemont spoke. "You couldn't possibly live for-"

"Look at me!" AZ commanded, louder than he had ever spoken before. "I have walked this world for thousands of years, waiting and praying for the chance to be reunited with the pokémon I loved. I've watched empires rise and fall, I've seen the most cataclysmic disasters and the most violent wars in the history of this land. Is the empty shell of a man that once felt something other than guilt and sorrow before you not enough evidence of my validity?! Had Calem not helped me to see my pokémon again, my eternity would have lost all meaning." He paused, allowing a wretched silence to fill the shrine before he continued, with more control. "I cannot rid this key from myself by own free will. It is bound to me so long as I prevent another from taking it. Calem won the battle. He and he alone has earned the right to take the key to my ultimate weapon."

"Are you insane?!" Diantha yelled. "That weapon nearly destroyed the world the last time it was used, if the legends are true. You can't give it to him!"

"I earned it," Calem refuted simply. He reached out for the key clasped in AZ's hand.

The man didn't draw back his hand, and he allowed Calem to claim what Serena could now clearly see as a key in his hand. "NO! Gardevoir!" Diantha ordered.

"Greninja!" Ash chimed in.

As Calem took the key in his hand, A shadow ball hurled towards him, while Greninja darted forward across the pond to interfere with the hand off. Calem didn't appear to take any notice of the commotion. Just as the two attacks were about to connect with their target, everything went black. It was like the world had shut off for Serena. She tried to blink, but she found that she couldn't. The sensation of rocketing forwards entered her brain, and she wondered if she had somehow fallen into the river. She tried to reach out into the blackness, but she found herself unable to move. The sensation lasted for forever and an instant at the same time, and before she could fully process the assault on all of her senses, the ride was over, and Serena found herself standing in the middle of a forest. This lasted all of two seconds before her knees gave way and she felt herself collapsing to the ground, exhausted. Strong arms seized her and held her aloft as she fell. Struggling to regain the energy to control herself, Serena forced herself to look up at her helper, and saw Calem himself. "First time teleporting is always rough," he explained briskly. "Don't pass out yet. We have things to discuss."


	20. Chapter 20: Serena and Ash

With all the energy Serena had been struggling to recover, she shoved outwards at the person helping her. Calem grunted in surprise and released Serena, causing her to stumble backwards. As white flashed in front of her vision, Serena shot out one hand behind her and made contact with what she only could assume was a tree. Using the instant to steady herself, Serena threw her other hand into her bag and released all three of her pokémon. The whole move took up less than two seconds, and by the time Serena's vision completely cleared, she was staring down a mildly surprised Calem and Spike. "Not bad," he complimented. "Is that a performer thing, or are you just quick on your feet?"

Serena removed her hand from the tree and stood up straight. Her pokémon tensed up a bit, clearly uncertain about their chances against Spike. As much as Serena wanted to comfort them, common sense told her that they were predicting the battle outcome correctly. _That's no excuse to back down._ "You did it, Calem," she praised sarcastically, ignoring his question. "We're alone. Now are you going to explain why you're going to such lengths to kidnap people and steal pokémon, or are-"

"Hold that thought," Calem interrupted, holding up a finger, a distracted look suddenly appearing on his face.

The boy glanced around their location, clearly trying to see something Serena couldn't. Aside from the light produced by Braixen's ignited branch, only moonlight was able to illuminate the forest clearing around them. Serena realized that she had been fortunate to fall back on a tree, as their location had a strangely small amount of foliage. Even the underbrush on the outskirts of the clearing they were in seemed like it would only go up to her ankles. The clearing itself had a few trees in it, one of which Serena stood near, but otherwise was barren of plant life. Calem was still scanning the area like it was the only thing that mattered in his life. As what could have been full minutes passed, Serena gathered her nerve and was prepared to try again. Before she could, Calem's gaze seemed to lock on a spot near one of the other trees on the other side of the clearing. "I'm thinking right there, Spike," he determined. "Let's go for it."

With far more speed than Serena had displayed, Spike surged forwards, brandishing a wood hammer. For an brief moment Serena wondered if Calem intended to add nature to the long list of enemies he was making, only for a brilliant flash of multicolored light to appear out of the grass type's intended destination. By the time Serena had registered that Diantha and her gardevoir had teleported after her and Calem, Gardevoir had cried out in pain from the impact of the wood hammer sending it flying into the nearby tree. Spike didn't slow down, and surged towards its stunned foe with another wood hammer at the ready. Serena only just managed to turn away before the sickening sound of a tree trunk being snapped like a twig could echo throughout the clearing. Terrified of what she had just heard, Serena only looked back when she heard Gardevoir reappear next to her trainer's side, having barely teleported out of the way of the attack in time. "Damn. You're sharper than I gave you credit for, Gardevoir," Calem praised, his voice practically drowned out by the sound of the top half of the tree hitting the ground. "Everyone's full of surprises today, hm?"

"Shut up, traitor," Diantha spat with a shocking amount of venom. All of her calm and composed persona had been completely discarded. "I'm bringing you in, and I don't care how strong you think you are. This is for everything you've done to me, Serena, and everyone else." Diantha's hand gravitated towards her key stone as she spoke.

Watching Diantha's rage and Calem's mild bemusement, the memory of everyone's battle with Calem's blaziken struck Serena like a lightning bolt. _If she tries to mega evolve right in front of him…_ "No! Braixen, fire blast!" Serena ordered in a panic.

The white light of mega evolution began to envelop Gardevoir as energy poured out of Diantha's key stone. In that moment, Braixen's fire blast made contact with the bare earth where Spike had been standing mere milliseconds ago, and Spike slammed into the mega evolving Gardevoir, a purple aura with yellow stripes surrounding it. Gardevoir cried out in pain and was sent into a crater in the ground. "Gardevoir, no!" Diantha cried out, partially in shock at Calem's cruelty.

"Don't bother checking on it," Calem advised. "Your pokémon is unconscious. I didn't take it too far and I don't intend to. I'm not evil, like Six."

If Diantha heard Calem, she didn't indicate it. Spike backed off and allowed the champion to rush to the side of her fallen companion. As Calem had said, Gardevoir was only unconscious. Diantha whispered something to her friend and held it for a moment before returning it. In the meantime, Spike lumbered back to Calem, having shed nearly all of the speed it had just displayed. Serena's pokémon formed a tighter semi circle around her protectively. Calem eyed them. "I'm frankly surprised after all this time you only have three pokémon. Surely you've seen some other interesting-"

"Shut up," Serena commanded, the idea of diplomacy all but gone in the face of Diantha's defeat. "You… have no right to talk down to me or anyone else. I don't care how strong you are, I'm not going to just let you do whatever you want."

Calem winced. "Jeez, shot down by two ladies in less than a minute. That's gotta be a personal record or something." Serena opened her mouth to order an attack, and Calem held up his hands quickly. "Wait wait wait! Like I said, we have a lot to talk about, and I'd rather keep injuries to a minimum. Do you think I would go to these lengths just to beat up your pokémon?"

A frown deepened on Serena's face. "I don't care," she decided. "You aren't worth listening to. Braixen, fire blast! Sylveon, fairy wind! Pancham, arm thrust!"

All three of Serena's pokémon sounded off in acknowledgement and used their respective moves. Calem sighed. "You're wasting our time, which is something we don't have a lot of."

Spike allowed both the fairy wind and the fire blast to hit it directly, and when the flames cleared, no visible damage was apparent on the pokémon. Pancham followed directly behind the attack with its arm thrust, but Spike simply raised an arm and brushed it aside. "Come on, just listen to me for a few minutes. You've got nothing to lose, right? Give me just this one request. Please," Calem practically begged, voice dripping with sincerity.

Serena's pokémon turned to her, waiting for another order to attack. Serena desperately wanted to try to attack the person who had actively tried to ruin her life for the last three days, but the lack of damage to Spike stayed her command. … _He's right. I can't just keep attacking like this. It won't get us anywhere. But what can I possibly gain from listening to this… this monster?!_ The thought reminded Serena of the cut on her face, and she touched it unconsciously. While it had stopped bleeding, the red line certainly send a wave of pain through her face upon contact. "I know what you're thinking," Calem guessed, suddenly solemn. "You can't trust me. I have nothing of value to say. I certainly hurt you and your friends, I'll give you that. I'm not trying to convince you that what I've done in the last three days was right. I just want you to understand me." He paused for a brief moment. "You're the only one who can."

Silence hung oppressively over the clearing. _There it is again. He's still singling me out._ "Is that what this is about, Calem?" Diantha spoke up.

Everyone turned to the champion. Her outfit was wrinkled and sullied with dirt. Tear stains were evident on her face. She had obviously been shaken by the brutal attack on her pokémon. Despite this, she stared down the former Kalos league champion with conviction. "I'll admit I never understood you. You could have been a great champion. Your aptitude for battle exceeded any trainer I'd ever seen. I didn't understand why you left, and I didn't understand why you agreed to come to this festival. Are you so self-centered to believe that your need to be understood is worth all the pain you've caused?"

Calem reached into his pocket and removed the key he had received from AZ. He held it up to Diantha as a sort of response. The champion fell silent for a moment. "If you use that, it won't matter who understands you," Diantha pointed out, deadly calm.

The trainer sighed. "I know that. Catch!" he exclaimed, suddenly tossing the key in the direction of Serena.

Startled into action, Serena nearly fumbled the key, but managed to grasp it before it could hit the ground. The metal felt shockingly cold to the touch, and she nearly dropped the key again in surprise. By the time she had control of the item, Diantha was staring at her incredulously. "But… but why?" she stammered.

Serena asked Calem the same question with her eyes. Calem flashed a small smile. "Like I said, I want you to understand me, Serena. If I wanted to listen to people accusing me for being wrong about all of this, I would have stayed home. Just hear me out. I promise you I won't take that key back by force." He raised a hand, as if to swear an oath.

 _I could just destroy it. That would prevent Calem from using it._ Serena thought. "You can't destroy it." Calem spoke, somehow reading Serena's thoughts. "Not just with any pokémon's attacks anyways. How about it, then?"

Despite Calem's words, Serena still felt the urge to at least try to destroy the key. She glanced at Diantha, who surprised the performer with a small shake of her head. "He's right. The power that formed that key is tied directly to the same power that is said to have fired the ultimate weapon and created the mega stones, if the legend is accurate. You would need at least that much power to even scratch it. As much as I hate to listen to a criminal, I suppose we can at least hear him out," the champion admitted reluctantly.

Calem's smile widened. "I'm glad you're here, champ. I think you deserve to know the truth too. Serena?"

A war was waged to determine whether to listen to Calem in Serena's mind. Eventually, reason managed to win out over anger. "Fine, Calem. Say what you need to say. After you're done, I'm going to bring you in," she promised.

The clearing itself seemed to brighten with Calem's smile. "Fantastic. Settle in then, this is gonna take a long minute. Spike, clear the area."

Spike grunted in acknowledgement and lumbered off into the woods. Calem himself sauntered over to a nearby tree and leaned against it nonchalantly. Diantha paced over to Serena and stood near her and her pokémon. Despite having no available pokémon of her own, the champion's presence set Serena slightly more at ease, as did the vacation of Calem's only pokémon. Realizing that Calem was eyeing her own partners, Serena reluctantly told them to stand down. Pancham was surprisingly the only pokémon that seemed to listen, and it ran over to the nearby tree Serena had steadied herself on and sat down. Sylveon simply backed up until it was standing next to Serena protectively. Braixen returned its branch to its tail but stubbornly refused to move, standing near the middle of the 5 or 6 meter distance between the two trainers. Serena herself placed the key carefully in her vest pocket, next to her card. Calem shrugged. "Close enough, I guess."

Small bird pokémon started to fly up and away from the treeline as Calem spoke, which Serena could only assume to be Spike's doing. "Let me make this clear," the trainer began. "I understand you about as well as you understand me, Diantha. If I didn't owe you a solid for that whole poisoning thing, I wouldn't let you stay here. We just don't get each other, and we never will. Fair?"

Diantha raised an eyebrow at Calem's words. "What's not to get, Calem? I'm the champion-"

"That's what I don't get." Calem butted in. "You had even more reason than I did to turn that position down. You threw your freedom away for another glorified acting job. From what I've seen, you haven't even been getting all that much stronger. When I first set out to become a champion, I thought the position would finally allow me to use all the strength I had built up through the ties between me and my pokémon. That title was supposed to let me use my skills for the benefit of my entire region. It was… disappointing to find out that a champion amounts to little more than a wilting flower stuck in a dry vase.."

The champion shook her head. "I tried to explain to you what a champion was four and a half years ago," she chided. "Champions are the pulse of their regions, the face that other regions see and respect. It's not about just being the strongest trainer in the region. You have to have a strong character too. The job of the champion is to ensure that the region's people have someone to look up to, to aspire to be like, and to one day surpass. I have committed myself to making the people of this region happy, be it as an actor or a champion." Diantha stood up straighter as she spoke, and Serena could feel the pride the champion had for her position come off of her in waves.

Calem sighed. "That's not even close to what you could be doing with your abilities and you know it." He turned away from the champion and faced Serena more directly. "However, I don't intend to have this argument again. We're on a schedule tonight. Tell me something, Serena: if you had won the title of Kalos queen, would you have accepted it?" he asked.

Serena didn't hesitate. "Of course. I spent months training to win that title. I wouldn't just throw it away." The performer's pokémon sounded off in approval.

"Right, of course," Calem acknowledged with a nod. "I would have said the same thing about being the champion before I won the title. The two positions are pretty similar, when you think about it. One similarity is that neither of them gets to leave the region. Diantha's had an exception or two with her acting gigs, of course, but in general, they're stuck here. Another thing they don't tell you about is the lack of using the skills that get you to that position. It gets hard to train when you're constantly doing public appearances, hosting parades, presiding over tournaments, etcetera. Champions are supposed to be people that use their abilities as the strongest trainer in the region to guide that region. They're supposed to take an active role in their leagues, implementing policy and taking action against the constant threats that plague every region." His eyes darkened. "But no. Once you're the best in a region, that region doesn't want to let you go, let you grow. The region wants you to sit on a pedestal and look good for them until the next guy comes along. I didn't start my journey just to be stopped because someone else said I was done." He paused. "Surely you wouldn't want to stop performing after becoming the Kalos Queen, Serena?"

Serena hesitated, and Calem forged onwards. "No," he answered for her. "You haven't thought that far ahead. I would know. Answer this instead: Why do you perform?"

Again Serena paused to consider the question while rapidly trying to process what Calem was saying, but this time the trainer didn't move on without her. _I suppose he's right. I wouldn't want to be Kalos Queen if that's what the job really meant. But then why do I perform?_ Serena's thoughts flashed back to her moment with Sylveon in the flower field, and the answer became immediately obvious to her. "I perform because it's fun, Calem. Because it brings me closer to my pokémon, and because I enjoy displaying the bond my pokémon and I have to others through performing. I'd like to be the best, and it's a good goal to have, but I'd never let that stop me from performing entirely. Is that enough for you?" she asked, partially irritated at his beating around the bush.

For a moment, Calem said nothing. His expression didn't change, but when Serena looked into his eyes, she saw the same gleam that had been appearing since his battle with Ash. " _It's a look that means you believe in what you're doing, that you won't ever give up until your goals are achieved." That's what I said to him, right?_ "The way you feel about performing is the way I feel about battling," Calem explained, breaking the silence. "I used to battle because it was thrilling, because it gave me the opportunity to put on full display the results of all the work me and my pokémon put in to get to where we are. If I stopped, then the thrill stopped. If battles didn't keep getting more intense, then my pokémon wouldn't be able to grow, and neither would I. The role of champion was going to prevent battles from getting stale for me. It was going to give me the outlet for using my abilities for others. No thrill is better than knowing that you're taking full advantage of your skills for a cause."

Diantha frowned. "So you're saying you're just a thrill seeker. Battling to defend the title of champion isn't exciting enough for you, so you'd rather run around committing crimes," she presumed.

"No," Calem spoke harshly, standing up straight and taking a small, aggressive step forwards.

At Calem's movement, Braixen withdrew its branch and waved it towards the trainer menacingly. If Calem noticed the threat, he didn't acknowledge it. "Well, yes and no. Yes, I turned down the position because it wasn't what I was looking for, but that has little to do with why I didn't come back, or why I've gathered us here today for this fun little pow wow. That has everything to do with what happened after I headed south." Calem seemed to calm down a bit as he spoke. Despite this, he still seemed to be keeping an eye on Diantha as he turned his attention back to Serena.

"I know what happened next," Diantha continued. "You went to Kiloude City, like I suggested. Within a month I'm hearing stories about the terrifying undefeatable trainer that's overwhelming anyone who dares to challenge him." She turned to Serena, a rather irritated expression on her face. "Kiloude City is famous as a gathering place for the strongest trainers in the region. I thought sending Calem there would show him that there was plenty of reason to being a champion, and that he could get difficult battles in the role, despite what he thought. I was considering going down to talk to him again, then I heard that he had lost, and vanished shortly afterwards. I did what I could to prevent word from spreading too far, so as not to worry his friends," she flicked her eyes back to Calem. "Who were all very worried about what had happened to their friend and wanted to know why he had just left them," she added.

Calem was nodding along with Diantha as she spoke. "You were wrong, by the way," he added. "You were far stronger than any of those trainers in that town. I was really disappointed, to be honest. It hurt my feelings."

"But Diantha said you eventually lost to someone," Serena pointed out, making a mental note to look up the town on her map.

"She isn't from around here," Calem explained with a wave of his hand. "Not only that, she gave me what I was looking for. The next step, as it were. She's like me, another league winner, another person discouraged by the meaning behind the title of champion. But she had found a higher purpose: to handle the problems that the leagues couldn't. The sort of region-ending epidemics that the leagues are too slow or too weak to deal with. That was the sort of thing she and her friends handled, and she wanted me to join up. Now, I was skeptical, sure, but there was nothing to lose, so I gave it a shot." He smiled nostalgically.

"It turned out as well as I could have hoped. I had the thrill I really wanted, and I think my pokémon enjoyed feeling like they did some good for the world. That made me happy." He glanced off towards the treeline, where Spike had appeared and was walking towards the group.

The grass and fighting type walked back towards its trainer and stood in a somewhat relaxed stance. At its return, all three of Serena's pokémon snapped to attention and moved defensively in front of her. Serena considered telling them to relax, but she didn't think she would be able to convince them again. "This girl you're speaking of. What's her name?" Diantha inquired.

Calem smiled and shook his head. "That's a no no, champion. She likes her privacy. I'm sure you'll meet her someday, though." He gave Spike a pat on its shoulder. "Good job, buddy. If you sense any of them coming back, you know what to do."

"Wait a minute," Serena spoke up. "I think you're just glazing over the fact that you decided to become some sort of vigilante because you lost a pokémon battle. Do you expect us to believe that you're actually some sort of good guy after what you did? How can we trust anything you say without proof? Are Brendan and Lucas part of your group? How many are there? Why would you mention their names but not this girl's name? What does this have to do with me?!" The questions tumbled out of Serena's mouth, her voice rising in frustration and confusion with every word. Her voice had taken on the same tone of rushed confusion that she felt hearing Calem speak.

The trainer actually took a small step back, raising his hands defensively. "Okay, okay! I'm sorry, alright? I know it's a lot to take in, but this is the truth. After I lost to that girl in Kiloude City, I joined her, Brendan, and Lucas, the latter two not as caring for their privacy. When things in a region start to get dangerous, we handle it." He turned, and his eyes bored into the champion. "If you've ever bothered to wonder why team rocket doesn't have a more oppressive presence in the Kanto and Johto regions, or why all those other teams that get their leaders arrested never reform, then we wouldn't have to work as hard. Yes, I joined those three because I wanted to keep getting stronger. That's what fun, or rather enjoying life was for me. Once I saw the truth for myself, I regretted not being able to take up the cause sooner. That's how poorly you and every other champion do at handling your regions, if you handle anything at all."

Calem's eyes were practically on fire, only to soften when he returned his gaze to Serena. "But to your questions, I can't get you to believe me on anything but my word. I can promise you up and down that my intentions and actions are noble, but the only proof I can really offer is the fact that your boyfriend is still alive. He has a knack for getting involved with this kind of world-impacting stuff, as I'm sure he's told you. I've met many a discouraged wrongdoer that cursed him and his friends names for what they did to their boss." He cut off his speech, searching for a response from the performer.

Serena's face contorted in confusion. _Ash never mentioned anything like that. Then again, he never mentioned meeting Suicune until two days ago. He's going to get a stern talking to the next time I see him, for more than one reason…_ The befuddlement in Serena's expression caused Calem to falter slightly. "Guess not." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well… that's awkward. Diantha, be useful. You would know about the major region crises of the past five years or so, right?" He leaned forward expectantly.

"Of course. It's my job, despite your claims," the champion retorted. "Major region crises include the Team Magma and Team Aqua incidents in the Hoenn region, the Team Galactic incident in the Sinnoh region, and the Team Plasma incident in the Unova region, to name some of the major ones. I know you had nothing to do with any of those incidents, Calem. I fail to see your point." She crossed her arms angrily.

"Someone read up on Ash, based on your selections," Calem commented. He fiddled with a few buttons on his poketch. "Tell me, how many of the grunts from each of those teams were apprehended following each event and the arrest of the leaders?" he asked with faux innocence.

Diantha's anger morphed into confusion. "I wouldn't know that. Most of them, I would assume," she asserted.

Calem shook his head. "Less than 10% of them, every single time. We made sure the rest of them who were still trying to stand for their team were rounded up within months, and if it wasn't for us, then your little file folder on these things would be twice its size. It doesn't matter how many evil organizations you disband if you don't handle the entire problem." The look had returned to his eyes.

To Serena's surprise, Diantha stood her ground in the face of Calem's intensity. "Whether you're telling the truth or not, what you're describing has literally nothing to do with what's happened in the last three days. You committed crimes. You still need to pay for them."

"Right on two of three assertions," Calem corrected. "The last three days have everything to do with where I've been. AZ would kill me if he knew I was telling anyone, but I was the one who helped him find that floette he cares about so much. One of the first things my new friends entrusted me with was destroying that ultimate weapon. It's just one of those things that you know any evil team would absolutely be stupid enough to use if they got their hands on it, so when I told the others about it, they made getting rid of it my initiation." He scoffed. "It would have been easy, too, if the old man hadn't built his machine to be completely indestructible. I could have just smashed it and gone home, but noooo, the ultimate weapon has to be unbreakable to make Calem's life hard."

"You… know where the ultimate weapon is?" Diantha asked, a small tremble in her voice cracking her confident persona.

Calem nodded casually. "It's in Geosenge Town, or under it to be more precise. I told you I enjoy spelunking from time to time. The damn thing can't be budged without the key, much less destroyed, so I had to track down the mystery builder, who in all my travels I had never caught a whiff of."

The key in Serena's pocket somehow felt colder when Calem mentioned it. She reached into her vest and touched it. The knowledge that she was in contact with what could very well be the most powerful object in the region scared her slightly. Calem noticed her movement. "Since I couldn't get rid of the weapon, I knew my options were to either destroy the key or steal it from AZ, and judging by the build of the weapon, I had all but resolved to the latter." He looked down, almost regretfully. "I spent months looking for him. I searched every corner of the region. Occasionally I would check in with my friends, but for the most part it was just me and my pokémon, scouring every nook and cranny of the region for one guy with a key. You'll never believe how I found him." He paused expectantly.

Serena blinked, stunned that Calem actually expected her to guess such a thing. "I don't know, Calem… did you meet him at the Suicune Festival?" she guessed.

"Yes! Well done!" Calem praised jovially. "I was taking a break from the search to attend the festival, and lo and behold I stumble into him while taking a walk one evening in the woods. He knew I had been looking for him, because of course he did, and he informed me that I couldn't actually kill him, which was unfortunate." He faltered when he noticed the look that appeared on Serena's face at his words.

"Right, let me make this clear: my friends and I do whatever it takes to ensure that the job the leagues don't do is accomplished. Yes, it sometimes means bending and breaking laws to get things done correctly, but we all have a rule that we can't kill unless it's a world-ending crisis. Then Brendan pointed out that it's really hard to judge what kind of crisis world ending would be in the moment, so in general we just agreed to not kill anyone. Everyone was happy with that, myself included," Calem explained quickly and calmly, as if he had rehearsed the line.

While Serena felt slightly placated, Diantha clearly wasn't. "Oh really? Then what do you call poisoning me? Or the follow up attempt for that matter?" she interrogated.

Calem sighed in mock exasperation. "I'm sorry," he apologized in a shockingly candid tone. "There's not much else I can say other than the poison was never going to kill you, and the follow up was meant to get you to the shrine alone. Those goons were never after your life, contrary to appearances." Diantha didn't appear to be at all satisfied with Calem's answer, but the trainer didn't seem to care.

"But more to the point, after I met AZ, he told me he wouldn't give up the key, and he wouldn't let it be destroyed. We battled, I won. I was going to take the key right then, but he said something to me, asked how much I knew about the legend. I told him I knew what everyone else knew, and he responded by telling me how to destroy the key." Again he broke off, his mind seemingly elsewhere.

"You said the key was indestructible," Serena pointed out.

"I said the key couldn't be destroyed with normal attacks," Calem corrected. He fished around in his pocket for a moment and removed his key stone. He held it up, allowing the moonlight to catch it. "Good thing these rocks were side effects of the weapon being used. Doubly good that the key has similar properties to a mega stone. Unless AZ was lying, in which case it's… doubly bad? I don't know. Too late to worry about that." He waved off his own concerns with his free hand.

"If the key works like a mega stone, then you want to use it to… mega evolve a pokémon to destroy the key?" Serena guessed, throwing a glance to her pocket.

"Good guess, but no," Calem responded. "The thing is, when you try to mega evolve a pokémon that isn't compatible with the mega stone you gave it, the stone the pokémon is holding rejects the energy, and the evolution fails. The key does the opposite, and constantly takes in energy, in an impossible effort to induce mega evolution. It has no pokémon to connect to, so to destroy the key, you just need a trusting pokémon that can't mega evolve, a key stone, and the desire to take a massive explosion of energy to the face once the key can't contain the energy it's absorbing."

Serena stared dumbfounded as Calem mimed a spectacular explosion with his hands, a silly grin on his face. "Now, I know what you're thinking," Calem began. "'Calem, AZ can't die! Why didn't he destroy the key?'" he asked in a poor interpretation of Serena's voice.

Diantha nodded thoughtfully, while Serena was still trying to wrap her head around the explanation of the key's properties. Calem pressed on. "I don't know for certain," he admitted. "But my best guess has always been that he didn't want to die without seeing floette again, and once he did, he couldn't bring himself to do it, at least not immediately. Given another hundred years, things might be different," he explained with finality.

"Let me see if I have this right," Serena spoke after a pause, using the silence that followed Calem to collect her thoughts. "You turned down the role of champion, then accepted a spot with some other people like you to fight crime behind the law's back. These people told you to destroy the ultimate weapon, but instead you helped AZ get Floette back and didn't take the key, only to try to obtain it now," she summarized.

Calem thought the story over for a brief moment. "Yep, sounds about right," he agreed. "Glad that's all sorted. Now, we can move on to-"

"No!" Serena broke in angrily. "How can you call that story sorted?!"

Calem raised an eyebrow. "What do you still want to know?" he asked.

Serena dug into her pocket and pulled out the key. As soon as she did, Calem immediately returned his key stone to his pocket, which induced a slight hesitation in Serena. "Why wouldn't you take this when you had the chance?" she asked. "Why go to all this trouble now when it was so easy before?"

"It's my own fault," Calem admitted. "Like I said, I helped the old fool get his floette back. The deal was that, in exchange for my help, he would owe me an important, world-saving favor should I ever need it. I should have made him promise to give me the key, but I was feeling soft, stupid even. When the time came to call in, he would only promise me a battle to get the key back. The problem with that was he now had a pokémon with three thousand years worth of experience on its side. I needed at least a legendary pokémon to match his power, and the only convenient legendary pokémon available was Suicune. As for everyone else who wasn't Diantha getting involved… call it regret, or atonement in some strange sense. It wouldn't be right of me to go out without speaking with my old friends one more time." A different look appeared in Calem's eyes, one Serena couldn't immediately recognize.

"That doesn't answer the question of your timing, Calem," Diantha pressed. "You have to have planned this months in advance. The order of events, assuming you're not lying, doesn't add up."

Calem began to respond again, but Serena had stopped listening. The pieces of Calem's story were beginning to associate together in her mind. _He left Tierno, Trevor, and Shauna behind. When he reappeared, they were all happy to see him, even Sawyer, in his own way. Calem said the only way to destroy the key was to… blow it up. He made Spike clear the area of wild pokémon. Assuming he's not lying, that likely means he intends to..._ The concept Serena was on the verge of thinking of felt almost foreign to her, and at the same time she knew in an instant that Ash would make the same sacrificial choice given Calem's position. Serena refocused enough to notice shock on Diantha's face. "Y-you couldn't know that. Olympia would never confide in you like that!" she accused, clearly flustered.

Realizing the importance of what was being said, Serena snapped to attention. Calem smirked. "Of course she did. She understands the limitations of her own position, better than you do. I know what you both have seen, and I know that this is the only way for those futures to ever have a positive outcome. Kalos needs this key to be destroyed," he asserted.

"I… believe I know why you involved Shauna, Trevor and Tierno," Serena spoke, slightly uncertain. Calem stopped his conversation with Diantha immediately and refocused on Serena, almost causing her to clam up entirely. "I've been… thinking about what you're saying, Calem, and I still don't understand two things: if your plan is really to do what I think you want to do, why does it have to be you? It seems like you're taking everything into your own hands when you have two groups of friends who would be willing to help you with this. Even Diantha might have understood if you had just explained things to her." Diantha threw Serena a look when her name was mentioned, but said nothing.

Serena took a breath. "Beyond that, I still don't understand you. You said you wanted to me to understand you, right?" The performer felt a rush of emotion well up inside of her. " I'm sorry, but I can't. You've abandoned your friends, hurt mine, stolen and kidnapped in the name of your noble cause, and from what I've seen, you haven't even tried to accomplish your goals without doing any of this. You're the reason Ash and I came to this town in the first place!" The rush of adrenaline peaked in Serena, and she forced all of the hardship she had endured over the last three days into one word. "Why?"

Calem stared directly at Serena. The performer silently began running over the rudimentary battle strategies she had picked up from watching Ash and Clemont on their travels, only for her opponent to ruin her plans by walking towards her. All three of Serena's pokémon snapped to attention, but Serena ordered them to stand down. There was no point in seeing her friends needlessly hurt. Diantha moved to stand between Serena and Calem, but at her first step, Calem swung his head and affixed the champion with a burning gaze. "No," he ordered, with more authority than Serena had ever heard from a person.

While he didn't raise his voice, the conviction behind Calem's command was felt by Serena, and practically stunned Diantha into stopping. "This is between me and her," he continued, stepping towards Serena until the two were arms length from each other.

The trainer's face contorted into a serious expression. "No more messing around. No more being cryptic. No more long-winded backstories that don't mean anything. Here it is, Serena. This is me."

With slow and deliberate motions, Calem removed the key stone from his pocket and gripped it tightly in his left hand. The key suddenly began to feel warm in Serena's pocket. She resisted the urge to reach for it, unwilling to risk an explosion. Calem's key stone began to glow, as if he was trying to use mega evolution. He opened his left palm in front of Serena, revealing the glowing stone to her. "Touch it," he commanded.

Serena stared warily at the stone. While she had no reason to believe that simply touching the stone was dangerous, alarm bells still rang out in her head. She threw a glance to Diantha, who appeared to have some idea of what Calem was doing and gave her a small nod,though with a concerned expression on her face. Turning back to Calem, Serena was somewhat surprised to find him completely unreadable. She steeled herself. _If this doesn't change anything, you need to at least try to run. Maybe you'll get lucky and get away with the key._ New resolve in mind, Serena reached out with her right hand and touched the stone in Calem's palm.

The instant Serena made contact, an agonizing bolt of energy spiked through her mind. She tried to double over in pain, but realized that she couldn't move at all. She could feel what had to be mega evolution energy running through her body, but her muscles were rigid. _Calem… what did you do!?_

 _I've given you access to me._

 _You… said something. In my head. You're in my head._

 _That sounds about right. To be honest, I wasn't sure this would work, given the distance from Sanity and how poorly you handled the teleportation. However, we're out of time and options. This is the easiest way, despite the risk._

 _Nurse Joy told me that telepathic communication between a gardevoir and its trainer is extremely difficult. How are you doing this?_

 _Thank the mega stone. Or years of intense training. Or both. Doesn't matter. Here's the point: I can't maintain this for long, not without risking our health. You have to give me permission to show you my memories. Sanity isn't able to go any further than establishing contact if you don't let it._

 _Why should I do that? What's to gain from hearing your story again?_

 _You aren't just going to hear my story again. I promise you that this will explain everything far better than I could. I know I've asked a lot of you already, but you only need to trust me one more time. If this doesn't work, you can arrest me right here. I'm a man of my word._

…

 _Please. You're my last shot. Sanity can't hold on. It's about to faint._

 _...Fine._

Serena gasped and stumbled backwards. Her pokémon moved to steady her, but the performer had been expecting the fall, and steadied herself before any of them could properly react. Diantha was staring at Serena, her eyes wide and curious, while Calem simply gazed at the performer with a sort of solemn gaze. She rotated the muscles in her body, confirming for herself that she was in fact herself, and not the person standing in front of her. "I've only ever done this with two other people," Calem spoke softly. "They didn't understand. They saw what made me who I am, followed every decision, all the steps along the way. After all that, they didn't understand."

"Calem," Diantha spoke in a low, yet urgent tone. "I know what you did. You should know the risks involved with imparting your memories onto-"

"I let him do it," Serena interrupted, drawing a look of surprise from the champion. "And he didn't show me everything. You left out nearly everything involving those three former champions, among other things."

"You saw everything you needed to see," Calem asserted, returning the key stone to his pocket. "What I've told you and shown you is true. I can't fake my memories."

Diantha looked to Serena. "Whatever he showed you, Serena, was real," she affirmed. "That incredibly dangerous technique can allow people and pokémon to share memories directly, in an instant. What did he show you?" she asked, curiosity she was trying to hide edging into her voice.

"You know the kinds of things I've seen, what I've dealt with, now," Calem continued, ignoring Diantha. "And you know what my next question is."

Serena stared at Calem. She had spent what had felt like years inside his head. Even if he had made large omissions, a surprising amount of his life had just been given to her. She temporarily refused to indulge the people in front of her, instead opting to mull over everything she had just learned. _...He was telling the truth. I didn't want to believe him, but Calem told the truth. He really believes that he's in the right here. Is he? Olympia herself showed this future to him. He's abandoned all of his friends to get this far. Just to… die. Like that. How am I supposed to understand that? He's changed his goal at least three times since his journey began. What am I missing?!_ Serena clutched her blue ribbon, frustrated with herself.

 _We couldn't be much more different. He's some sort of vigilante pokémon trainer. I'm a performer. We went on our journeys with completely different goals._ "The key is a mistake I made when I was still figuring out my purpose," Calem spoke, breaking into Serena's thoughts. "I hadn't bought into the idea of fighting for the sake of higher purposes, or even for another person. I need to pay for that now. This is my new purpose, and I accept that."

 _Fighting for another person… He had never fought for another person before he met that girl…_ Things clicked in Serena's head. She returned Calem's gaze evenly, a feeling of confidence that normally only seized her during a performance flowing throughout her entire body. "I understand, Calem."

* * *

For the second time in two days, Ash was completely ignoring the battle raging in front of him. As soon as Calem teleported from the shrine, his remaining pokémon immediately launched an all out attack on their surroundings. The site of the town's most sacred tradition had quickly devolved into a violent battleground, and Ash couldn't care less. _He took Serena. Just like that. I didn't even have the time to tell him to stop. I have to find her. But I don't know where she went. I have to make Calem pay for this, but he's gone too. Gah, I'm so useless! I couldn't do anything when she was right next to me! I… argh!_ Ash nearly doubled over as a shock ran through his entire body. He swung his gaze downwards to confirm that Pikachu was in fact the one that had shocked him. "Pika pika pikachu pika!" It exclaimed angrily.

Ash blinked, seeming to recognize the battle raging around him for the first time. _Pikachu's right. I have to help everyone else right now, before they get overwhelmed._ "Thanks, buddy, I needed that," Ash spoke gratefully to his pokémon.

Pikachu nodded seriously in acknowledgement and prepared itself for the battle it had been deprived of for days. With a single command, Greninja returned to its trainer's side from its position where Calem had been standing. Ash pulled out three poké balls and released his other three pokémon in front of him. Hawlucha, Noivern, and Talonflame all sounded off their names in their respective battle cries. Ash smiled at his team before taking a brief moment to survey the area. The shrine had literally been split in two by what had to have been one of Suicune's ice beam attacks, the attack having formed a sort of ice bridge through the river mouth and almost to the shrine entrance. Ignoring the fact that he had missed a massive ice beam attack that could have easily hit him, Ash noticed two major battles being waged. Clemont and most of his friends appeared to be struggling against Calem's blaziken, while the police and Kathi Lee were fighting Suicune with the aid of team rocket of all people. He couldn't see Bonnie or Calem's Garchomp, so he assumed that it was battling Squishy somewhere. On the very far end of the pond, Diantha and her gardevoir appeared to be having some kind of showdown with Sanity. Remembering what Diantha had said about following Calem, Ash made a decision. "Alright, Noivern, you and Talonflame go help the police deal with Suicune. Hawlucha, you join Clemont to fight that blaziken. Do everything Clemont tells you to. Greninja, Pikachu, you're coming with me. We're going to get Diantha to help us find Serena. Understood?"

All of Ash's pokémon nodded or voiced their understanding. Ash smirked at all of them. "Thanks guys. Let's go!" All five of Ash's pokémon took off, Noivern and Talonflame flying over the makeshift ice bridge to join the police, while Ash and the rest of his pokémon raced towards Clemont's battle.

The trainer didn't stop to see how Clemont and the others were doing, and only made eye contact long enough to ensure that Clemont understood he was giving Hawlucha over to him temporarily. _I can't waste anymore time. Serena is counting on me._ Clemont nodded to his friend briskly and refocused on the fight.

Greninja, Pikachu and Ash made their way along the left wall of the shrine, having to pick their way through the garden's foliage to avoid the attention of Six. Clemont for his part did his best to hold Six's attention as Ash reached the back area of the shrine and the indent where Eusine's alakazam had met the wall. Alakazam still sat against the indent it made in the wall, now conscious, but badly injured. Ash forced himself to focus on the staring contest that was happening between Sanity and Diantha's Gardevoir. The two were standing across from each other, between the back wall of the shrine and the pond that was the river's mouth. Neither side seemed to care about the chaos happening on both sides of the shrine. Sanity stood between Ash and Diantha, and when Diantha noticed him, she held a hand up. Before he could decide what that meant, he noticed Eusine, still being held aloft by Sanity, a few meters away from what looked like an impending battle. Ash made a snap judgement. "Diantha!" As soon as he spoke, the glow around Eusine began to intensify, but Ash ignored the increase in psychic energy. "You said you could follow Calem, didn't you? We have to go after him! Greninja can handle Sanity!" he insisted.

Diantha stared angrily at Ash. "Ash, can't you see it's taking all of Gardevoir's psychic energy just to keep Sanity from ending that charlatans life? I couldn't send myself or you after them if I wanted to!" she yelled at him.

Looking harder at Diantha's Gardevoir, Ash noticed that it was indeed trembling. Sanity didn't appear to be having any similar issues, but it certainly wasn't trying to attack him or Diantha. Eusine himself seemed to be having trouble breathing. "Just… go. Save the… girl… and Suicune," he spoke in a strained tone to the champion.

"I'm not doing that," Diantha responded. "You're not dying as long as I have something to say about it."

Ash wanted to cry out in frustration. _I can't interfere. There's no telling if Sanity is using its full strength to attack Eusine. I might just make it worse. But I have to help Serena…_

While Ash was trying to think of a plan, the blue glow around Eusine suddenly dimmed and faded. Now released, Eusine crumpled to the ground, gasping for air. Diantha blinked. "Why?" she asked, befuddled.

Sanity's eyes flashed, and Diantha's Gardevoir appeared to come to some sort of realization. The pokémon turned to its trainer, and the two held eye contact for an instant. After a small pause, the champion turned to Ash. "Sanity is letting me go after Calem. I don't know why, and it wants me to leave you here. I'm going to go after that traitor."

"Diantha, wait!" Ash exclaimed. "Isn't this kind of suspicious? What if Calem is just baiting you?" he asked aloud.

Sanity made no notice of the accusations apparent, while Diantha took on a look of determination. "That's a risk I'm willing to take. You want to save Serena, right?"

It wasn't that Ash didn't trust the champion, but he felt a nagging feeling within him that Diantha was literally walking into her doom. "I still think I should go with you," he insisted, taking a step forward.

The instant he did, Sanity's eyes glowed, and Eusine again began to glow blue. "Great…" the man managed to mumble to himself in frustration.

Ash froze. Diantha stared solemnly at him. "I know how you feel. Really. But if walking into this trap is the only thing that gives us a chance to save your friend, then so be it."

After switching his gaze between Eusine, Sanity, and Diantha, Ash relented. "Alright. Good luck," he spoke to Diantha, trying to suppress the feeling of dread welling up inside of him.

Diantha nodded and vanished, along with her gardevoir and the blue light around Eusine. Sanity, rather than focus on Ash, began to look around at the battles going on around them. Ash was confused at first, but the pieces fit together in his head almost immediately. _Sanity is probably still communicating with Calem telepathically. That means two things: Diantha definitely just stepped into a trap, and Calem probably didn't move too far from here. I can still get to Serena if I cut Calem off from the rest of his pokémon. I have to take down this gardevoir._ Ash threw a glance to his two most trusted pokémon, both of which were already on the same page. With a sharp inhale for confidence, Ash faced down the psychic type that had outmatched Diantha's gardevoir. "Sanity!" Ash called out.

For a brief second, Ash was worried that Sanity would simply pick up Eusine again, but the pokémon appeared to acquiesce to his unspoken request. Ash wasn't sure if he felt relieved or not. _No time to rethink this now._ He met Greninja's eyes, and understanding passed between them. A column of water appeared underneath his fully evolved pokémon and engulfed it. When the water cleared, Greninja had taken on its other form, and was sizing up its opponent. Pikachu jumped forward, cheeks bristling with electricity. Sanity didn't seemed concerned by Ash's numbers, or Greninja's transformation. Before Ash could decide on the best first move, Sanity closed its eyes and began to use calm mind. Ash snapped into focus. "Greninja, aerial ace! Pikachu, quick attack! Don't let it finish!" the trainer ordered, miming Greninja's attack.

Both pokémon darted forward, Greninja's leg and Pikachu's body glowing with white light. Sanity didn't even have time to open its eyes before the two attacks landed. Pikachu slammed directly into the pokémon's chest, while Greninja kicked it in the side of the head. Sanity grimaced slightly and skidded backwards a few meters, but refused to open its eyes. Pikachu and Greninja hopped backwards slightly, expecting a counterattack that didn't come. Instead, Sanity opened its eyes slowly, clearly having completed its calm mind move. _Damn… I can't let this battle drag out, or I'll be stuck in the same position Diantha was in. Time to switch it up._ "Alright, Pikachu. Use thunderbolt! Don't stop until you connect!"

"Pika pika!" The pokémon exclaimed angrily before launching a bolt of lightning directly at its foe.

As Ash expected, Sanity teleported away from the powerful attack just before impact. Pikachu refused to let up, and continued to launch lightning at the psychic type. Ash and Greninja focused on Sanity's movement. Just as Ash was starting to worry that Pikachu would run out of stamina to keep Sanity on the move, he felt a change in Greninja's stance. _Go for it._ Ash silently ordered his pokémon.

Sanity dodged another thunderbolt and appeared in time to be met with Greninja's cut attack. Completely caught off guard, Sanity stumbled backwards, its stoic persona evaporated with one successful attack. It seemed to be bewildered that it had been tagged by its foes. "Just because we don't use psychic energy doesn't mean we can't read your movements," Ash informed Sanity, allowing a bit of pride in his pokémon to seep into his voice.

Despite being caught off guard, Sanity didn't seem to be taking the match any more or less seriously. It brushed itself off where Greninja's cut had struck it and closed its eyes again. Ash only allowed his shock that Sanity was willing to try calm mind again so close to Greninja to last an instant. "Greninja, interrupt it with cut! Pikachu, thunderbolt!" he called hurriedly.

Being right next to its foe, Greninja was almost instantly able to summon another cut and slam it into Sanity's body. To Ash's chagrin, this attack failed to even slightly move Sanity. Before Greninja could retreat, however, Sanity opened its eyes and seized greninja's arm with its own. The reason for the grapple became immediately apparent to everyone involved when Pikachu's thunderbolt collided with both pokémon. Greninja cried out in pain, only to have its cries cut off by a shadow ball from Sanity at point blank range. Ash grimaced and was forced to take a knee in pain as his pokémon was launched backwards, landing at his feet. Pikachu turned back in worry for its trainer. _It… faked a calm mind to get Greninja to let its guard down…_ Ash thought, struggling to stand up straight with his pokémon. He could feel Greninja's feelings in his mind. The pokémon was in pain, but it was still just as resolved to win the battle. Ash drew on his pokémon's strength and straightened up. He nodded once to Pikachu and refocused on Sanity while Greninja righted itself. As he did so, he caught the end of Sanity using a calm mind for real, the psychic energy from the pokémon almost seeming to come off of it in waves. _It's used two calm minds already. I have to end this quickly, or I'll end up like Diantha did._ "Alright, guys, don't give up. Pikachu, quick attack! Greninja, cut!"

Contrary to Ash's expectations, Sanity raised a hand and launched a small flurry of shadow balls at its foes. With a sharp command, Ash had Greninja withdraw from the wall of oncoming fire, trusting the size of Pikachu to allow it to pass through the assault. Greninja stood next to its trainer and observed with him as Pikachu jumped and weaved between the shadowy orbs, narrowly missing a ball more than a few times. By the time Pikachu actually made it to Sanity, the pokémon was mostly obscured by its own attack, and the only indication Ash had of Pikachu's success was a grunt from his foe and the sudden cessation of shadow balls. Pikachu cried out in triumph and jumped back to its trainer before Sanity could retaliate. As Ash prepared to praise his partner, Sanity closed its eyes again. Ash hesitated for an instant, unsure if the move was being faked again or not. "Pikachu, thunderbolt!" he finally called out, just in time for Sanity to finish its calm mind again.

Though it was certainly aware of the attack, Sanity made no effort to dodge. Electricity shot through the night air and slammed into Sanity. While the pokémon had at least shown some discomfort when it had been struck previously, it now took the brunt of the thunderbolt without even flinching. The instant Pikachu's attack ended. Sanity teleported directly in front of the electric type. Pikachu was flying in the air from the shadow ball attack before Ash could finish ordering a dodge. Sanity teleported back to where it was standing before, its movements clearly sharper and more efficient. "Pikachu!" Ash called out, his pokémon having landed on the ground at his feet.

The yellow mouse got up quickly, but Ash could see it was starting to push its limits. Pikachu's breathing was labored, and its tail was starting to droop. _And now Sanity is at three calm minds. I have to hit it with physical attacks before it finishes gathering power. Unless…_ Inspiration struck Ash. Greninja turned to its trainer, sensing the change in demeanor. Ash relaxed his battle stance, prompting Greninja to follow suit. Pikachu noticed this and turned to its trainer in confusion. "It's alright buddy," Ash reassured. "I have a plan. Be ready," he instructed.

Despite Ash's words, his body language conveyed a far more casual attitude to the fight than he had just been displaying. Sanity actually tilted its head towards its foe, unsure of his intentions. Ash did nothing, allowing Sanity to make the next move. Sanity responded by closing its eyes. It didn't open them for a while, and Ash suspected that it was trying to fake them out again. _We aren't playing that game anymore,_ he told the pokémon silently. Sanity's body began to glow with an aura clearly more powerful than the one from when it used calm mind, though Ash still didn't act. After what felt like hours of this inactivity, Sanity opened its eyes again, the aura flashing around it positively indicating another calm mind use. Though Sanity was still clearly baffled by Ash's actions, it shrouded itself in a purple light anyways. The moment Ash was waiting for had arrived. "Dodge!" he called out the second Sanity released the tidal wave of lavender into the air.

Greninja reacted immediately, darting forward to get out of the blast area, but Pikachu found itself unable to move. A blue glow engulfed both it and Sanity's eyes, the purpose of the sudden psychic attack becoming obvious. While Pikachu wasn't expecting to be held in place, so far Sanity had behaved exactly as Ash expected it to. "Alright, Greninja, throw Pikachu at Sanity!" he commanded.

The water type whipped around from its approach to Sanity and launched its long tongue towards its partner. With a powerful flick, Pikachu was ripped from the grasp of psychic and sent flying towards Sanity. The stored power attack changed course in midair, locked on to its target like Ash had hoped. "Grab it, Pikachu!" Ash yelled after his pokémon.

While slightly disoriented, Pikachu managed to obey. Sanity was unable to react, still recovering from having its psychic hold interrupted. The stored power attack hit its mark, and both Pikachu and Sanity cried out as a massive explosion rocked the shrine. Ash could hear the sounds of the battles around him cut off as everyone momentarily turned their attention towards the impact site. The attack had caused a large amount of debris from the grounds and surround garden to linger in the air, making it impossible to see the effects of the attack. "Alright Greninja. Get in there and finish it," Ash ordered, miming out an aerial ace.

Greninja obeyed, darting forward with glowing limbs. For a brief moment there was silence from the cloud of dust, then the definite sound of Greninja making contact, and finally a cry from Sanity. The dust eventually settled or was evaporated instantly in the glowing water, revealing Greninja as the only pokémon standing. Pikachu was perched on its shoulder in the same way it travelled with Ash, and Sanity was lying on the ground, unconscious. The silence gripped the air for a bit longer, only for an obvious cry of anger to emit from Blaziken, signalling the continuation of the fight. For the moment, Ash resisted joining the fray. "Get Sanity out of there, Greninja," Ash spoke, with a much more reserved tone than his battle command voice.

Pikachu hopped off of Greninja's shoulder as water engulfed the larger pokémon, reverting it to its original form. Ash moved forwards and attended to his first pokémon, kneeling down to inspect it. "You did awesome, Pikachu," he praised. "I was worried you might have caught the worst of that attack for a second, but Sanity did exactly what I thought it would." he withdrew an oran berry from his bag and fed it to his pokémon.

Pikachu said its name, clearly tired but happy to have made its trainer proud. Greninja finished moving Sanity out of the crater, which had begun to fill with water, and placed it on the ground near Ash. Ash rose and took in his opponent. Sanity was completely unconscious, its breathing low and uneven. Ash stared at the pokémon, a feeling of pity for being a pokémon for a trainer like Calem welling up within him. _At least Calem is cut off from the rest of his team now. I just need to figure out how to get to Serena. I'm guessing Sanity won't be much help with that right now…_

"Rather impressive, boy," Eusine commented, causing Ash to jump.

Eusine was supporting his alakazam, the two apparently having managed to recover enough to make their way over to the winners. One of Eusine's arms hung limply at his side, and Ash started to wonder who was supporting who as the pair got closer to him. Both bore wounds from their experiences in the past hour. "I wouldn't have won if I hadn't seen Sanity battle before, or if Calem were here," he admitted. "I knew Sanity would go for the pokémon with the least resistance to psychic type moves, and that it probably wouldn't be able to maintain psychic if it wasn't expecting an outside force to act on it."

"You also correctly predicted that Greninja was strong enough to send Pikachu into Sanity, and that Sanity would react by turning away from the attack, shielding Pikachu. You're selling yourself a bit short," he commented.

For once, Ash wasn't feeling very boastful. "I just trusted my pokémon, and they did awesome," he spoke, giving his two partners a small smile. "Are you alright?"

Eusine shrugged, and then winced at his own movement. "Oh yes, I'm wonderful. My pokémon and I are badly injured, and Suicune has been stolen by a dirty criminal traitor, but I'm splendid," he answered with intense sarcasm.

The tone was completely lost on Ash. "Good. I'm going to find a way to get to Serena. Don't get yourself or Alakazam get hurt any further," he instructed.

"For one thing, don't tell me what to do," Eusine rebuked with indignation. "And as for your Serena problem, I believe I can be of some service."

With blatant effort, Eusine detached from his pokémon and allowed it to walk over to Sanity, Alakazam placed a clawed hand over the other psychic type and concentrated for a moment. Sanity's body twitched a bit as Alakazam focused its psychic energy on the grounded pokémon. Finally, Alakazam opened its eyes and nodded to Eusine. Eusine forced a grin. "Alakazam has traced Sanity's psychic energy. It can take you to where Serena and the traitor are," he asserted.

Ash was about to thank Eusine eagerly, but the memories of what he had been up to for the last three days resurfaced in his mind. "Why are you suddenly so interested in helping?" he asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

"Why else? That fool has the one thing I've spent my life pursuing. After witnessing a battle like that, I must begrudgingly admit that you're the best chance I have of ensuring Suicune is freed. Not even the champion could beat that pokémon, but you outmaneuvered it in spectacular fashion. I can't trust the champion to handle this herself," he admitted, loathing dripping from each word.

There was no sarcasm in Eusine's tone that Ash could detect. He glanced at his two pokémon. While Greninja still seemed ready to battle, Pikachu was obviously trying to fake the same level of energy. He sighed. "Pikachu, I want you to stay behind with Eusine," he ordered. "I need a pokémon I really trust to be ready to act in case Sanity wakes up," he added before the electric mouse could protest.

Conflict flickered across Pikachu's face. "If it makes your decision easier, Alakazam can only transport a person and a pokémon, given its weakened state. If you want to go with Ash, I can't have Alakazam go with you," Eusine offered up helpfully.

The statement seemed to help Pikachu make its mind up. It turned to Ash and nodded in acceptance of its trainers plan. Ash grinned. "Thanks, buddy. I'll be back with Serena shortly."

"And Suicune," Eusine added irritably.

"Right," Ash agreed, a bit embarrassed at the admission of his own priorities. "Thanks, Eusine. Pikachu, keep Eusine and the others safe for me."

"Just do the same for Alakazam," Eusine muttered quietly as Pikachu padded over to the charlatan.

Ash returned Greninja to its ball and nodded to Alakazam. Eusine turned away from his own pokémon and gazed out at the battle being waged over the shrine. Alakazam's eyes began to glow, and Ash could feel what he recognized as teleportation energy engulfing his body. With one more nod to Pikachu, Ash steeled himself for another battle. _Hold on, Serena. Calem's gonna pay for everything he's done._


	21. Chapter 21: Serena and Calem

"Don't say it for the sake of saying it," Calem warned. "I need to know that you absolutely mean what you're saying."

There was more uncertainty in Calem's body language than Serena had ever seen from the trainer. The fidgeting stance and wandering eyes didn't seem to fit the Calem that Serena had just… experienced. She took caution with her next words. "Calem… I understand why you're here. Anyone could, if they saw what you just showed me. More importantly, I think I understand why you're really doing this." She drew breath slowly, carefully watching for the slightest indication from Calem that she was making a mistake. "I don't buy that anybody makes this kind of decision for one reason, or one goal, for that matter. There's another reason you're doing this, beyond this vigilante business, and if it's what I think it is, then- Calem?" she asked, cutting herself off as Calem suddenly seemed to collect himself.

A small smile was on Calem's face. "Go on," he prompted. "I know what you're going to say. Go on." His hands had ceased trembling, and he maintained eye contact flawlessly.

Serena threw a glance to the champion, who appeared to be baffled by the exchange. _That makes sense._ "You're doing this because if you don't do it, that girl will. The one you refuse to name."

Diantha could have burned a hole through Calem with her questioning stare. The smile hadn't left the man's face, though his eyes betrayed regret. His gaze once again drifted. "Shauna didn't understand," he spat, his mouth trying to reject what he was saying. "I tried so hard to make her understand. At first I thought it was because I was telling her that her affection was… unrequited. I should have been looking at things from the opposite perspective."

He sighed. The smile melted from his face. Serena felt an unexpected amount of pity for the trainer. "You don't have to destroy the key, Calem. I'm sure we could find another way to-"

"There is no other way!" he snapped, before quickly gathering himself. "I'm sorry. I've spent months looking for another way. It's either going to be me, her, or the region, and only one of those three things is replaceable," he declared, pointing to himself.

To Serena's surprise, Diantha shook her head. "Nobody agrees with that but you, Calem. Shauna adores you, in spite of how you've treated her. Officer Jenny despises you. Ruinous as the path you've chosen is, I can't help but admire your strength of will and skill for battle. There are many things people can call you, but replaceable isn't one of them. I want you brought to justice, not dead. You can still choose a different path."

Unable to think of anything to add, Serena simply nodded in agreement with Diantha's words. Calem didn't seem to be moved. "The only opinion that matters to me now is hers. To her, I was a substitute, and I've accepted that."

The word shot through Serena like a bullet, but she forced herself to remain focused. "That's why you believed I would understand," she accused. "Am I just a temporary accessory for Ash, then? Is that what I look like to you, Calem?!" Anger bubbled up in her voice, and her pokemon bristled at her side.

"It takes one to know one, as they say," Calem responded coldly. "Be honest with yourself. You know how many people he's travelled with before. You'll do anything for him. You'll lay your life down if it spares his. You're not the first. You won't be the last. It's how things go with people like Ash, like… her. They're too big for people like you and me. They're going places, and let's face it, it's all we can do to keep up. The only difference between us, dear Serena, is that I've accepted this as my purpose. I can't force change upon the leagues, not without her. Once her purpose became mine, this conclusion was all but inevitable." He crossed his arms, emitting conviction in his words.

While Diantha seemed to be slightly lost by Calem's speech, Serena wasn't. "That's wrong, Calem. That's not what I am to Ash, and I refuse to believe that's what you are to this girl. Ash and I don't have the same goals, and you didn't have the same goals as this girl before you met her." She paused, considering her next words carefully before forging onwards, denying Calem a rebuttal. "I've done a lot of thinking about this in the last three days. As important as Ash is to me, and as intertwined with my goals as he is, I'm not going to give up on the goals that have made me who I am for him. I first set out because I wanted to be around him again, and later because I wanted to be a performer. If I do what you did, completely change my goals just to be closer to Ash, then I'm doing both of us a disservice by trying to become something I'm not. Ash deserves to be with someone who makes him a better person by being with him, and he in turn should make that person better by being with them. Maybe… maybe I'm not that person. Maybe I'm just another friend, passing him by, as you say, but I refuse to give up that easily. I have to at least try to be the person he deserves to be with." It was only after she had stopped speaking that Serena realized her eyes had begun to tear up, and she wiped them with her arm forcefully.

Calem looked over the defiant performer standing in front of her. "Maybe you don't understand after all," he finally said, traces of disappointment in his tone.

The trainer looked like he wanted to continue, but he suddenly raised a hand to his temple and grunted in discomfort. Serena's bravado leaked out of her and was replaced by concern. "Calem?" she asked, uncertain about both his condition and why she felt so concerned about it.

"We're running out of time," Calem responded harshly, forcing himself to straighten up. "Sanity has fainted. I'd just forgotten what it's like to not be able to sense its presence," he admitted.

At the news, some gusto seemed to return to the champion. "It seems like your pokemon are losing, Calem. Perhaps you should reconsider your path. Just because you haven't found a way out of-"

"No," Calem interrupted, raising a hand and scanning around the arena again. Diantha seemed to want to interrupt him, but Serena shook her head at the champion. _No reason to further anger him. Hopefully whoever shows up can talk some sense into him. Especially if it's Ash…_ "This was an expected part of the plan. I can't pull this off effectively if Sanity interferes," he explained as his gaze suddenly focused on a spot near the edge of the clearing. "And if I'm right, a certain charlatan will be here any second now. Get ready, Spike. We can't predict it perfectly without Sanity's help."

Spike, who had decided to stand intimidatingly behind Calem for most of the exchange, came to life again and lumbered towards where Calem pointed. Unlike before, it took caution in its movements, clearly not as certain as when it had attacked the champion. Serena rapidly tried to think of a way that Eusine could be of any use to the situation and came up with a frustratingly short list of options. Without any ideas for how to stop Calem from attacking the presumed teleport location, Serena could only tell her pokemon to be ready as Spike continued towards its destination. Just as the tension in the clearing moved from oppressing to unbearable, a flash of colored light appeared from a spot on the edge of the clearing, several meters away from Calem's prediction. Spike reacted nearly instantly, but it was too far away to effectively surprise Alakazam. Almost as soon as they appeared, both pokemon and trainer instantly disappeared again, leaving Spike empty handed. Serena hadn't been able to clearly see Eusine, but she could only assume that he had been expecting to be attacked upon teleportation. From the other side of the clearing, another flash of colored light appeared, immediately followed by a flash of white light. "There's no point in running, old man," Calem called out to the trainer.

Eager to prevent its prey from escaping, Spike surged forwards with all the speed it had used against Diantha. Serena tried to open her mouth to issue some sort of order to her pokemon, but before she could even decide what to say, Spike stopped dead in its tracks near the center of the clearing, struggling with something Serena couldn't see. "Oh?" Calem muttered, almost to himself.

"Ash," Diantha identified, staring at the trainer on the clearing edge.

Serena whipped her gaze away from Spike. Though he was a bit hard to make out due to the distance and low lighting, there was no way Serena was looking at anyone but Ash. "Ash…" she whispered emotion filling her voice. _He came for me._

Every part of Serena wanted her to run to Ash, to have him with her again, but the struggle between Spike and what was now evidently Greninja stayed her motion. _If he gets distracted now, it could cost both of us._ Ash began to walk forwards, Alakazam trailing behind him. Calem, at first focused on his own pokemon, noticed the motion and moved closer himself. Taking a cue from Diantha, Serena and her pokemon also approached, but in a roundabout way that prevented any of them from getting too close to the center of the action. When Ash was about five or six meters away from his pokemon, he stopped, and Calem did the same. From the new angle, Serena could see that Greninja hadn't taken on its more powerful form yet. It was blocking a wood hammer from Spike with two aerial ace attacks in its arms, and both pokemon appeared to be struggling. Calem, seemingly the most comfortable with the situation, spoke up first. "Well, this sucks. You're supposed to be Eusine. I didn't rough the old man up that badly, did I?" he joked darkly.

Now that Serena could see Ash clearly, she was surprised that the passionate rage burning in his eyes hadn't lit up the entire forest already. "Are you alright, Serena?" he asked, not looking away from his pokemon.

Serena almost nodded, but stopped herself when she realized that Ash wasn't making eye contact with her. "I'm fine, Ash. I'm glad you're here," she admitted to him, allowing affection to leak into her voice despite the situation.

"Good," Ash answered. Serena could tell he was trying having a more difficult time watching the clashing of moves for a slip up and talking at the same time than Calem. "Take Alakazam and get out of here. You too, Diantha. I'll finish this," he promised.

"No, that won't do," Calem spoke up before Serena could agree with Ash. "That Alakazam can only take one passenger at the present time. If you take one of them away, the other one will be dead before you can blink. Don't push me," he warned.

A chill ran through Serena's spine. She had nearly forgotten that she had been brought here against her will. Ash risked a glance over to Serena, and Spike pushed forwards, forcing Greninja to practically dive backwards to avoid the wood hammer that crashed into the ground. The battling pokemon regained their posture and stared each other down. Calem had his eyebrow raised at Ash, waiting for a response to his threat. He sighed. "Fine. Alakazam, wait with Diantha. Don't teleport. I'll get you out of here once I'm done with this battle, Serena," Ash promised.

Alakazam nodded from behind Ash and made its way to Diantha."Excellent," Calem spoke up again, interrupting anything Serena might have said. "You know, this is how we first met. Trainer versus trainer, nothing more. Not a bad premise for a final battle." He casually shifted into a battle stance.

In line with Serena's expectations, Calem's eyes had revealed their familiar shine again. Ash said nothing in response, but his expression was more deadly serious than the performer had ever seen from her crush. The key felt like it was heating up in her pocket, and her hand drifted to her ribbon. Silently, she hoped for Ash's success, memories of similar prayers she had made for the boy during every gym battle welling up within her. Then, to Serena's befuddlement, Calem suddenly relaxed. "However, it's a waste of my energy," he declared. "The fact of the matter is, since you're here, I don't have time to waste. I can't protect everyone from the explosion if they all come bumbling over to ruin this fine clearing."

Ash tilted his head. "What are- double team!" he exclaimed, snapping to attention.

Greninja was smashed into the ground by Spike's wood hammer, or rather a copy of Greninja was. Ten or twenty different Greninjas briefly appeared around the clearing, but a wave of Ash's hand caused the real Greninja to appear behind Spike. "What is he talking about, Serena?" Ash asked without looking away from his pokemon.

"I'm talking about destiny," Calem answered for Serena. "There isn't time to explain everything. All you need to know is that I'm going to destroy the key, and you can't be here while I do it."

Ash scoffed. "You think I'm buying that?" he exclaimed, watching his pokemon barely avoid another wood hammer. "You're out of your mind."

"He's not lying," Serena spoke up, trying to sound as certain as possible. "Calem really means to destroy the key."

The brief glance Ash threw Serena was enough for a wood hammer to make contact with Greninja's side, sending it flying across the clearing and into the forest. Ash appeared to mutter something obscene to himself before calling out to his pokemon. "Greninja! Don't reveal yourself!" He ordered.

There was no affirmative from Greninja, but nobody seemed to question that the pokemon was still standing. "In a battle like this, if either trainer stops focusing for even an instant, the other side has a chance to attack," Diantha commented. "Ash is wise for using the forest for cover."

Calem lazily scanned the forest for a moment before turning his gaze back to Ash. "Whether you agree with my decisions or not, what I'm doing tonight is going to keep this region and other regions alive. This is for the greater good."

Nothing was Ash's response. He was just watching Spike, avoiding looking to anything else. _He's putting everything into this battle_ Serena thought as she looked on. In addition to shame for distracting Ash, something else starting welling up within Serena. _Wait… what is this? Why does all of this feel… wrong? It's just a battle, no matter the stakes..._ As she pondered, Calem continued on. "Do you care about Serena?" he asked innocuously. Calem's foe visibly tensed up at the question, and Calem dove deeper. "I took Serena with me because I knew she would finally be the one who would understand me, to an extent, at least. She would know better than anyone else what it's like to exist as the shadow of something else, in any case."

Serena suddenly realized what Calem was doing. To her dismay, Ash took the bait. "What are you saying?" he asked suspiciously.

Calem smiled warmly. "What I'm saying, my friend, is that you horribly mistreat your friends, abandon them on a whim without really considering their feelings, allow blind interest in pokemon to act as an excuse for your insensitivity, and you'll probably get Serena killed or worse by dragging her further and further along your life."

Both Diantha and Serena were agape at Calem's sudden string of insults. Ash reacted differently, and got into a battle stance similar to Greninja's. A column of water shot up into the sky from an area close to the clearing, and Calem grinned. "There. Get em, Spike," he ordered.

Spike sprinted off in the direction of the water. _How badly does he want to win that he would talk like that just to trigger Greninja's transformation?_ Spike vanished into the forest, only to immediately be sent flying back into the clearing by an aerial ace from Greninja. The grass type landed on its feet, but clearly had felt the impact. "I guess it can attack with the water spout up," Calem noted.

"Let's go, Greninja!" Ash called out to his pokemon, miming cut moves. Greninja shot like a bullet out of the undergrowth, two cuts in its hands. It had changed form, as Serena expected. Diantha leaned in slightly, interest momentarily melting her caution.

The grass types trainer waved a hand, and a spiky shield appeared from Spike's arm. To Serena's confusion, Greninja didn't slow down or even try to stop. Just before it would have rammed itself into a wall of green spikes, the pokemon leapt into the air, over its foe. Greninja became a silhouette against the moon, brandishing both cut attacks like knives. For a moment, it seemed as if Greninja would hang in the air forever, everyone watching idly as the water type remained suspended in the sky. Then, Greninja practically dove downwards at Spike. The grass type raised its arm defensively, the spiky shield moving with it, but Greninja wasn't aiming for Spike's head. Instead, Ash's pokemon landed just behind Spike, and with two quick motions, slashed at the back of the pokemon's knees. Its move complete, Greninja darted back to its trainer before Serena could blink. The spiky shield disappeared, and Spike sank slowly to its knees, apparently unable to stand. Despite this, both Ash and Greninja stood at the ready for any indication that Spike was going to attack. Calem didn't seem concerned. "You went for the knees again," he commented. "I can see why you'd call that its weakness. My friend is a bit top heavy, after all. Not to mention I've been pushing him to move faster than any good chesnaught reasonably should if it doesn't want to faint early. Compound that with all those wood hammers Spike has doled out, and I'd say it's about time to finish this battle, wouldn't you agree, Spike?"

There was no immediate response from Spike, and Serena briefly wondered if Calem had gone crazy, but a sudden green aura appearing around Spike removed her questions. "That's overgrow," she muttered, recognizing the similarity between Spike's aura and the one she had seen from Clemont's chespin in the past.

Diantha nodded. "Calem has allowed his pokemon to weaken. It's possible he was trying to activate the strength boost from overgrow the whole time, in the event something like this happened," she observed.

"There we go, buddy," Calem praised his pokemon. "Now, get up and show these two the power of destiny."

Upon hearing the word destiny, Spike was on its feet again. It turned to face Greninja and Ash. Unlike Calem's blazekin, it didn't appear to have lost control of itself in the activation of its ability. Instead, Spike summoned a spiky shield with one arm, and a wood hammer with the other arm. It started pacing menacingly towards its opponent, looking more like a knight in green armor than anything else. Ash and Greninja got into a ready stance together. "For Serena, Diantha, Suicune, and everyone else," he spoke softly, and the two pokemon met in combat.

All that could be heard in the clearing was the sound of arm meeting arm as the two pokemon threw blows at each other fiercely. Greninja switched between aerial aces and cuts on a dime, with punches and slices that nearly inevitably connected with either of Spike's arms. Spike, while not playing very offensively, would occasionally manage to land a glancing blow with its wood hammer or push Greninja back with the spiky shield. Despite its best defenses, however, Greninja still managed to land a cut or a blow in various places as the fight continued. Both trainers appeared to have given up on ordering their pokemon to do anything after the first few exchanges. Calem simply watched with mild interest. Ash did all he could to keep up with Greninja's movements, though he spent more time gripping injuries Spike landed than mimicking moves.

The fight wore on, far longer than any clash Serena had ever seen. Though both sides had to be weakening, neither pokemon gave any ground. Greninja refused to display any of the injuries that Ash was feeling, and whatever damage Spike had allowed itself to take was having little to no effect on its battling abilities. The feeling Serena had felt within her earlier in the battle welled up within her again. _I can't explain this, but… everything about this just feels wrong. This isn't even a pokemon battle anymore. They're just tearing into each other without their trainers doing anything._ She looked to Ash, whose breathing started to become labored. The trainer was clutching one arm that hung limply at his side. _Whatever this form of Greninja's does to Ash, he can't keep it up for much longer._ "Fascinating, isn't it?" Calem spoke, causing both Serena and Diantha to jump. "Nobody has ever lasted this long against Spike's overgrow ability, and Greninja doesn't even look like it's winded. Can't say the same for the trainer, though."

Somehow, without Serena or Diantha noticing, Calem had made his way over to the two of them, his disinterest in contributing to the fight evident. "Shouldn't you be doing something?" Diantha asked rhetorically.

Calem shrugged. "I can't give orders fast enough to keep up with that. Ash can't either, but he's giving it his all, bless his heart. It's obvious Greninja and Ash have some sort of connection with each other right now. What do you think will happen when his body can't handle all the damage Greninja has taken?" he asked to nobody.

Both Diantha and Calem looked to Serena, who looked at both of them in confusion. "What makes you think I know that? This is as new to me as it is to you. For all we know he's just miming the pain like he is the moves," she posited, desperately hoping that she was right.

As she spoke, Spike landed another blow with its wood hammer, and Ash doubled over. He coughed, and flecks of blood flew from his mouth. Greninja seemed to ignore the pain and immediately returned to combat. Ash also refocused on the battle, but his movements were progressively getting more sluggish. Fear for her crush superseded everything Serena was feeling. She whipped around to Calem. "Call Spike off," she ordered to him, holding back her emotion.

To her dismay, Calem shook his head. "Can't do that, sorry. Ash wasn't part of the plan. I can't destroy the key while he's still battling Spike. I have to knock out his Greninja first, no matter what it does to him," he spoke unwaveringly.

Serena rapidly thought, trying to think of anything she could do to change Calem's mind. The key in her pocket caught her attention, and an idea came to her. "What if I destroy the key?" she blurted out.

Her statement was enough to gain Calem's full attention. "You can't," he asserted.

"Why not?" Serena asked. "Diantha has a key stone, and I have Braixen. What's to stop me?" she asked angrily.

"Your pokemon isn't strong enough to hold the energy in the key long enough to induce the explosion," Calem explained. "Like I said, I searched everywhere for another way. I even considered using Ash to do this, but now that I'm seeing this battle, I don't think his body could take it. I mean, even Spike can't do it unless overgrow is giving it a power boost. Besides, even if you could destroy it, at this point, I wouldn't let you." He turned his head away from Serena. "I burned my bridges already. I'm not prepared to live with the consequences of that."

While Serena wanted to question what he meant by that, the matter of Ash consumed her attention. _He said he can't destroy the key while Greninja is still battling. So if I can convince Ash to stop battling…_ She looked to Ash, still completely absorbed by the combat in front of him. She turned to her pokemon, all seemingly eager to be helpful. She gave them a small smile. "Alright, here's the plan," she spoke loud enough to get her pokemon to focus on her. "Pancham, you use stone edge to force Greninja and Spike to stop fighting. As soon as they separate, Braixen needs to hit Spike with a fire blast, and Sylveon needs to hit Greninja with fairy wind. It might not damage them that badly, but it will give me enough time to get between them. Can you guys do that for me?" she requested.

To Serena's surprise, her pokemon seemed uncertain. The performer tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"They want to know why their trainer's plan involves her running out onto the battlefield," Calem answered for them. He affixed Serena with a knowing stare. "I understand, Serena. Do you?"

Some combination of the strange feeling that had been eating away at Serena and Calem's words finally caused the performer to snap, and she practically flung her body around to march straight up to Calem. The trainer's only reaction was a bemused smile, replaced immediately by shock as Serena slapped him across the face with most of her strength. As he held a hand to his cheek, Serena seized the older trainer's shirt and pulled him closer until her face was practically touching his. "I told you that I understand you, Calem, and that's why I can't help you. If you think all it takes for us to be identical is willingness to lay down our lives for the sake of the people we love, then yes, we're twins based on this one single standard." She tightened her grip on Calem's shirt. "You're right about one more thing only: that key needs to be destroyed. I don't know what you did to burn bridges with your old friends or your new friends, and I don't care. All it means is that the last person in the world who has any chance of showing you mercy is slowly dying trying to stop you. I put aside everything you did to listen to you, and the time for that has passed. Now, I'm going to save Ash, and you're going to let him help you. Are we clear?" she asked in a low, threatening voice.

A raised eyebrow was Calem's response. "And what makes you so certain he'll want to help me, if you won't?"

Serena released the trainer and backed off a few steps. "I didn't say I won't. I said I can't. If there's one thing Ash is good at, it's convincing people not to give up on themselves."

Calem pondered over Serena's ultimatum for an agonizing amount of time. "Fine," he finally said. "It won't change anything, but if you get him to stop the battle, I won't start it again." He checked his poketch. "We still have a bit of time left."

Deciding that Calem had received her message, Serena gave him a curt nod. She spun on her heels with a dancer's grace and returned to her pokemon and an agape Diantha. "You…" she started, only to be met with a raised hand from Serena.

"It's been a long day," she spoke tersely.

Diantha didn't argue and simply nodded in understanding. Serena refocused on her pokemon. "You all heard that. This is for Ash. You know he'd do the same for us, so let's do this for him. Got it?"

All of Serena's pokemon sounded off in definite approval, and Serena smiled proudly. "Excellent. Let's stop this battle."

The performer refocused on the battling pokemon intensely while her own pokemon got in position to carry out their trainer's orders. While she had been threatening Calem, Ash had been struggling to stand. Serena realized that she needed to act quickly, and she searched frantically for any sort of opening that Pancham could expose. Precious seconds ticked away, and Serena saw nothing. _Drat. I can't do this. I can't just read movements like Ash or Calem does. I'm just going to have to attack and hope for the best._ Serena gave the signal she always used for her pokemon to begin a performance. Pancham reacted first, slamming its hands into the ground, causing a spire of glowing blue stone to erupt right in between Greninja and Spike. Both pokemon were sent tumbling backwards from the unexpected attack. As Serena expected, both pokemon were already looking ready to go at each other as she had begun her sprint towards them. They had almost fully recovered when Braixen's and Sylveon's moves made contact. Spike wasn't nearly as prepared for the second fire blast that had made contact that night, and it stumbled backwards in pain and anger. Greninja faced similar difficulty, fighting hard to withstand the unexpected attack but being pushed back anyways. Pancham's stone edge disappeared, and Serena reached the area that had formed between the two pokemon just in time for both of them to try to face their foe again. Trusting Calem to keep his word, Serena turned herself to fully face Greninja and held her arms out wide, as if to block Spike from view. "Ash, call Greninja off," she called out to him, trusting the trainer to listen to her.

Greninja was still surrounded by what could be called pink dust from Sylveon's attack. The pokemon was staring at Serena with no recognition in its eyes as it straightened up and summoned a cut into one of its hands. Sudden panic started to overcome Serena. _This might have been a terrible idea…_ "Ash?!" She called out again, trying to put more urgency in her voice. She wanted to risk a glance over to her crush, but Greninja's glare denied her the luxury. Then Greninja was darting forwards, all the terrifying speed Serena had watched in countless battles now bearing down upon her. She didn't bother to raise her arms to her face to defend herself, knowing there wasn't any point. The performer closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle. Seconds passed and she felt nothing. Cautiously, Serena opened her eyes to see Greninja right in her face, the blade of the cut centimeters from her neck. Greninja was blinking several times, evident confusion regarding what it was doing in its expression. Before Serena could choose her next move, she was forced to the ground, tackled by her own braixen. At the same time, Greninja was hit with a fairy wind from Sylveon and a dark pulse from Pancham. The power of the combined attacks forced the pokemon backwards, though it didn't fall. Serena looked gratefully at her starter pokemon. "Thanks, Braixen. I'm fine," she reassured as she rose to her feet.

When the attacks ended, Greninja was facing Serena again, but there was no longer any malice in its stance. It didn't say anything, but Serena could tell it was trying to tell her something with its eyes. Braixen didn't give it the chance, stepping in front of Serena, branch at the ready. "Braixen braixen brai brai braixen!" it yelled at the water type.

The rant wasn't enough to inspire a response from Greninja, and instead it turned to face its trainer. Serena finally decided to see what Ash had been doing instead of helping her while she made her move. To her horror, what greeted her was the sight of her crush down on one knee, staring directly at the ground and struggling to breathe. "Ash!" Forgetting everything else that was happening in the moment, Serena rushed towards her crush.

Once Serena reached Ash, she kneeled down carefully to his level. "Ash, can you hear me?" she asked, panic increasing her pitch. "Ash, please, say something!" _Don't do this to me, Ketchum. Look at me. LOOK AT ME!_

Slowly, Ash raised his head. For a terrifying instant, Ash's stare reflected Greninja's in the lack of recognition of the person in front of them. Then Ash blinked, and his brown eyes seemed to return to normal. "Oh... hey, Serena," he greeted, somewhat delirious. "Guess I stopped Greninja in time. That's good." His trademark grin adorned his face, juxtaposed by the small stream of blood trailing from his nose.

Serena rose wordlessly and offered Ash a hand. He accepted, and with some difficulty, Serena had Ash standing up straight in front of her. "Sorry, I-" he started to apologize, before Serena seized him with both arms and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

Ash grunted in surprise, but eventually returned the hug. They had only been apart for a brief time, but being next to Ash again made Serena realize how long a brief time could really be. "Never scare me like that again. Got it?" Serena whispered fiercely into Ash's ear.

There was a sigh from Ash. "But… you just ran in front of an active battle," he pointed out.

Had they been making eye contact, Serena would have given Ash the largest glare she had ever given him. Instead, he only felt her tense up in his arms, and realized what he was saying. "I'm sorry. I... pushed it too far… lost control of Greninja… I just wanted to save you from Calem… are you okay?" he asked, concern in his voice.

The performer broke the embrace to stare at Ash incredulously, holding his shoulders. "Are you kidding me, Ash? " she asked in disbelief. "You're bleeding and barely breathing. You look like you just ran out in the rain. The fact that you're standing is a miracle. We have to get you to a hospital!"

Ash shook his head. "No… no. I'll be fine. We have to stop Calem. I have to make sure you're safe."

In response, Serena let go of her hold on Ash's shoulders, and he immediately sank back to his knees again. "Ash, you're not fine. Just rest. I'll… figure this out myself and then I'll get you some help. I don't want you to push yourself too far."

Somehow, Ash found the strength to make his smile appear more reassuring. "Serena, really, I feel alright. Better, even." He paused, looked at himself, and then stood up straight. "Actually, I don't feel too bad at all." The trainer's breathing had returned to normal and his stance was relaxed.

For a moment Serena was terrified that Ash had gone insane, but a new hand on her shoulder stilled her thoughts. She turned to see Diantha staring at her, the closest thing she had seen to a smile from the champion that night on her face. "I believe that the damage taken by Greninja in that form is somehow also experienced by Ash," she explained. "Calem thought so too, so he decided to borrow some of the power of your pokemon and use pain split on Greninja to heal it. I thought you should know before you thought Calem was going back on his word."

Both Serena and Ash turned to see Spike holding hands with Braixen and Greninja. While nothing appeared to be happening at first glance, Serena could tell after looking harder that Braixen was visibly getting weaker while Greninja and Spike got stronger. Greninja was the first to break off the move when it saw that its trainer was standing again, pulling its arm out of Spikes grip, inspiring Braixen to stop as well. Ash looked at himself and tested his limbs. "I think you're right," he told Diantha. "I feel much better."

At that statement, water erupted from around Greninja, and it reverted to its original form. Ash responded to this by stumbling forward, having to be steadied by Serena. "On second thought, five minutes of sleep would be really nice," he commented wearily.

With Diantha's help and Serena's vocal support, Ash was permanently able to stand on his own. Greninja returned to Ash's side, though it notably kept its distance from Serena. Braixen returned to its own trainer, keeping itself between Serena and Greninja. Pancham and Sylveon stood near Alakazam. Spike, no longer emitting the aura of overgrow, had sauntered over to its own trainer. Calem himself had been observing the other three people in the clearing from a short distance, rather impatiently. When he saw that Ash appeared to be fine, he spoke again. "Alright, thank me later. Say what you're going to say so we can finish this already." There was no longer any of the playful teasing in Calem's tone, a dull ambivalence replacing it.

All three trainers faced Calem. Serena spoke first. "Why'd you help him?" she asked.

"Because he didn't deserve to die," Calem answered simply. "That designation belongs to me alone. Besides, if he's going to come all the way out here to interrupt us, the least I can do is hear him out."

Serena flashed him a small, grateful smile. "Thank you, Calem."

"I said thank me later," Calem responded, somewhat irritably. "I want to hear what the boy has to say."

Ash stared down the traitor for a moment. "I don't know all the facts. As far as I can tell, you're just the criminal who kidnapped and hurt my friends while stealing powerful weapons and legendary pokemon. What am I supposed to do besides battle you on that information?" he asked aloud.

Before Serena could even start to try to explain the mess that was the truth, Diantha took Ash's attention. "I felt the same way you did when I got here," Diantha spoke candidly. "I still do. But the fact of the matter is that I truly believe that Calem intends to destroy that key and himself in the process. He thinks it's his grand purpose, in service of a friend of his that Olympia said would die in his place if he didn't."

Serena could tell that Calem's trick hadn't helped Ash recover even close to fully as he went over the information in his head. "Why do you believe him?" he eventually asked.

In response, Diantha pointed to Serena's pocket. "For one thing, he hasn't tried to take back the key he gave Serena yet. If he didn't think we would believe him, he would have found a way to take it the second he realized that you were a threat to his power here."

Taking a cue from Diantha, Serena patted her pocket to prove she had the key, noting the warmth of it. Ash stared at the form of the key in some manner of disbelief before eventually nodding to himself. He looked to Calem. "So you want to destroy the key, huh? You went to all this trouble to change things to a future where someone still ends up dead?" he asked.

"I didn't change anything," Calem responded. "Olympia stated that it was going to be her or I. I just ensured that it was going to be the less important person. Given the chance, you would make the same choice. That's why I wanted Serena to understand what I was doing."

Indignation lit up within Ash, and Serena for the first time felt hope that Ash would be able to make sense of the situation. "That's wrong," Ash stated plainly. "If you're given a prediction like that, you change it. No matter what the odds are, you can never give up on yourself or your friends until it's over."

"But when is it over?" Calem shot back, coming to life a bit. "Is it over when your friends do something stupid and die needlessly? Is it over when you have that last conversation at the fork in the road before separating forever? No matter how it happens, separation is inevitable. Never giving up is a false hope that only leads to making this inevitability all the more painful. I was lucky enough to have the chance to control my separation, make it so that the world has a chance to improve because of it. I chose to seize it, no matter the cost."

Ash crossed his arms. "And this friend of yours? They're perfectly fine with you throwing yourself into this task for them?" he questioned.

Calem looked away. "She's busy. I saw how she felt, and I decided to keep her out of the loop. As far as she knows, our communications systems have been down for over a month. I've made my peace with it."

For a long moment, Ash didn't say anything in response. He was going over things in his head, that much Serena could tell, but for once she couldn't tell exactly what her crush was thinking. "And you're just okay with allowing your life to end without searching for another way?" he eventually asked.

"We're not doing this again," Calem responded irritably. "I searched for another way. Everything pointed to the fact that this was the right thing to do. The half that better serves society remains, and the other half is a replaceable substitute. Sometimes one person, sometimes many, always temporary, always serving the same purpose. That's what Serena needs to understand."

The dots could almost be seen being physically connected in Ash's head. His brow began to furrow angrily. "Are you trying to say I'm better than Serena?" he questioned, anger edging into his tone.

Greninja visibly seemed to become more agitated. Calem ignored this. "Don't play dumb. You've accomplished many a great thing over the years of your journey. Serena, by comparison, hasn't, and the most she's done is almost win a pointless performance competition."

Ash defiantly shook his head immediately. "You have no idea what Serena is capable of. She took longer to start her journey than I did, yes, but she waited over a decade just to return a handkerchief to me. Serena has more patience, caring, and empathy than anyone else I've ever met. I…" He threw a warm glance and a smile to Serena. "I love her. She's the person I'm committed to, and I refuse to allow you to call her anything but my equal." If he even noticed that Calem had revealed that he had been watching Ash, he didn't mention it.

Serena felt a large blush appear on her at Ash's words, and quickly attempted to hide it. _Stay focused, Serena. Be emotional later._ Calem affixed Ash with a hard stare. "I've heard your… delusional words before, from someone else's mouth. They don't mean anything, coming from people on your side. I want to hear it from Serena," he ordered.

The performer, already uncomfortable from Ash's praise, was unprepared to be put on the spot by Calem as well. All eyes were on her. Ash was giving Serena a look that implored her to repeat what he had just said. Calem had a similar face of expectation, though he clearly desired a different outcome. Diantha remained impassive, but Serena could tell she was interested in the answer. _Why don't I know the answer to this question? How am I supposed to judge myself like this? Well, I've always judged myself like this. I've been trying to be like Ash ever since I met him. Then I'm presented with a choice to leave him with the things I've learned and I don't know what to do. Where does that leave me?_ Unable to formulate any decent plan, Serena simply began to speak her mind. "I'm not Ash, and I'm never going to be," she exclaimed aloud, facing nobody in particular. "I couldn't do most of the things he's done, just from the things I've heard about and seen on our journey. It's true that Ash has had a large influence on my life from the beginning. In following him, I've realized that, as much as I aspire to be like Ash, and to have the intense drive he has to succeed and to never give up on any task he undertakes, I'm probably still never going to be like Ash." Serena could feel herself starting to derail, and she forced calm upon her person.

"Serena…" Ash muttered, blindsided by the words coming out of her mouth.

Calem started to smile, only to freeze when Serena suddenly met his eyes coldly. "However," she spoke, things becoming clearer to her with every passing second. "Ash's accomplishments don't make me or anyone else less of a person. We all have our own personalities, and nobody is perfect, no matter what they do. Just because I haven't accomplished great things yet doesn't mean I'm going to simply give up on trying, or throw myself away to be like or save someone who has. If I'm going to be the Kalos Queen, or anything else, I'm going to do it the way I want to do it. Ash inspired me. I'm not Ash. I'm Serena." She stopped to breathe, feeling somewhat winded.

There was a brief silence before Calem raised an eyebrow. "That's your response, then? I'm Serena?" he genuinely asked.

Serena nodded wordlessly. She fully expected Calem to begin to berate her about understanding again at any point during the silence that followed. Instead, he checked his poketch and chuckled to himself. "All this time I go around looking for someone to validate my actions, and I get stuck here with three people stubborn enough to move a sleeping snorlax." He gave Serena a warm look. "I take back what I said. You understand me, Serena. I guess I never did ask you to agree with me. My mistake for getting the old hopes up. You agree with me, right Spike?" he asked, turning back to his pokemon.

Spike broke its stoic expression to nod enthusiastically at its trainer. Calem grinned. "What did people do to deserve pokemon?" He asked the night sky, keeping his back to the three trainers in front of him.

Ash decided to take over. "Calem, you may not agree with us, but we know we can find another way. You just have to let us help you," he implored.

There was a final shake of the head from Calem. "Destiny is not going to be altered by anyone, Ash Ketchum. Not this time." He rooted around in a pants pocket and withdrew a pokeball. "I was looking forward to calling this my trump card, but the charlatan's not here, so it's not as impactful. Oh well, details. I got to see one more battle, if nothing else."

Serena eyed the pokeball warily. "You had another pokemon on you this whole time?" Diantha asked incredulously. "Why haven't you used it?"

There was a nonchalant shrug from Calem. "I can't control it. It hasn't responded to anything that I've tried to teach it. I named it Sun accordingly," he explained, tossing the pokeball up and down in his hand.

With all eyes on the pokeball, every pokemon that wasn't Spike took a few steps forwards to protect their trainers. Calem turned around suddenly and waved them off. "None of my pokemon would even dare try to damage Sun. You'd be wasting your time."

Even Ash hesitated at the boast. The memory of Greninja's struggle with Spike was still fresh in his mind. "So that's why you gave Serena the key," Ash deduced. "You had this the whole time."

Calem smiled. "Of course! What kind of guy would I be if I didn't give Serena something in return for the key? AZ got his floette, and Serena can have Sun. He'll do a far cry more good for her than he did for me." He held out the pokeball invitingly.

Serena blinked to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. Calem was still there. "I… don't get it." she admitted. "Why would you just give away your pokemon and expect me to hand over the key?"

"Well, originally, it was because you were going to accept my point of view and use Sun to do what I did, but for Ash instead," he stated. "Then you went off script, and Ash appeared, and my plan had to make a few last minute adjustments. But that's alright. I almost like this outcome better. It feels more… hopeful. Yeah, that's right. Hopeful. I like that."

"You still plan on dying," Diantha pointed out coldly.

"Well, duh," Calem responded. "I didn't come this far to be turned away by a few surprises."

"I don't see how you feel like you can make this trade without us just taking the key back and finding another way to destroy it," Serena spoke, voicing the thoughts of Diantha and Ash as well.

Calem slapped his forehead with his free hand. "Ohhhh, right. I suppose I misspoke," he admitted somewhat jovially. "You see, I might have been lying just a bit about the key and its properties. Once it's had enough close exposure to a key stone, there's no way to prevent the explosion, only to contain it. Now, normally, the attraction between a key stone and the key is small, not enough to allow for this sort of destructive bond to be formed. However, if there were two key stones, and they both maintained close proximity to the key, the process would speed up, leading to the key reaching an energy level that it can't naturally retain. At this point, it's a simple matter of when, not if the explosion occurs. You might have noticed the key heating up in your pocket, Serena. As of..." He checked his poketch. "...Now, we have passed the point of no return, and have anywhere between three to five minutes before the key explodes, given Spike and I don't force it to happen earlier. I recommend talking faster," he joked.

Serena couldn't think of anything to say in response. "How do you know all this?" Diantha asked suspiciously.

"Extensive research on the weapon and its properties combined with help from people smarter than I am," he answered quickly. "I was only half joking about the talking faster thing. We should move this along."

Ash and Serena exchanged a look. To Serena's surprise, she sensed just as much guilt in Ash as she felt in herself. "How do we know you're not just lying to force us to do this?" Ash asked, turning back to Calem.

Calem looked like he wanted to strangle something. "I promise you, I'm telling the absolute truth this time. Serena, check your pocket! The key should almost be too hot to hold at this point," he insisted.

In all of the happenings at the clearing, Serena had nearly forgotten about the fact that the key was in her pocket. She reached in to claim it, but the instant her finger brushed the metal, searing pain coursed through her. "Ow!" she exclaimed, retracting her hand.

"You alright?" Ash asked, concerned.

Serena calmed herself down. "Yeah. It's just hot. I can get it," she insisted.

Ash placed a hand on Serena's shoulder, and she looked to him, confused. "Ash?"

Ash sighed. "Are you sure you want to give him the key?" he asked.

Serena glanced to Calem, who pointed at his poketch insistently in response. _After all this, what was the point of everything I said and did if I can't change the outcome? It doesn't matter what Calem did, he doesn't deserve this! He needs help, or guidance, not a grave. I… I can't condemn him to this._ Noticing Serena's hesitance, Ash spoke up again. "This, well, isn't something I'm good with," Ash admitted. "I don't know what the right decision is. I just don't. I'm sorry, Serena, but I'll support whatever decision you make."

Serena could feel the key's heat now, even from her pocket. Time was growing short, as Calem had predicted. _I'd always left the difficult decisions in situations like this to Ash. Calem, please forgive me. Diantha, officer Jenny, Tierno Trevor Eusine Brendan Lucas Shauna… oh Arceus Shauna please forgive me. I wouldn't do this if I thought there was any other option available to us. But Calem has trapped himself. He made his decision, and if I don't make mine, I'm risking more than just his life. I'm so sorry._

Steeling herself, Serena dove into her pocket and practically yanked out her key, turning her vest pocket inside out in the process. The key felt like what Serena could only imagine the ignited end of Braixen's branch felt like. The pain on her face was evident to everyone, especially Calem. "Give it here. You're going to burn yourself," he ordered. Any further discussion Serena might have had about the decision was thrown out the window by the pain in her hand. She rushed over to Calem, who had put a glove on his free hand while he was waiting on Serena. Serena practically shoved the key into Calem's gloved hand, and Calem in turn placed the pokeball containing Sun into the hand Serena was holding the key in with a swift motion. He gripped the key tightly, his glove seemingly preventing him from feeling its heat, and leaned in close to Serena. "Thank you, Serena. I appreciate what you've done, and I really am sorry for what I had to do to get us to this point, whatever that may mean to you."

Serena looked at Calem, pleading in her eyes. "You said the key is definitely going to explode… can't you just abandon it? We can take Alakazam, teleport away-"

"No," Calem interrupted calmly yet firmly. "Someone has to take the brunt of the explosion, or it'll be like somebody fired the weapon off right here. Everything, even Cinder Town would be destroyed. Worse, if the key just releases all the energy, it might not actually be destroyed. Someone has to be her to force the key to hold in the energy long enough to destroy it. Spike and I are going to make sure that happens," he promised.

Serena hadn't realized that she had started tearing up again, but this time, she didn't bother to dry her tears. She could only think of one question. "Why would you make me do this?" she asked, finding speaking increasingly more difficult.

Calem placed a free hand on Serena's shoulder. "It was because I wanted you to understand what it meant to make the decision sacrifice somebody for something," he explained with the tenderness of a parent comforting a child. "I want you to listen to me carefully: every time you feel like you're put in one of these situations, look for a way out. You may not see one immediately, but I promise you, between you and the other kid, you'll be able to find one. This time, it was out of your hands. The choice was made before you got the chance to do anything. Next time, don't let it come to that. I can't believe I'm saying this, but don't become me. Don't… give up on yourself. Promise me, Serena," he implored.

Serena nodded. "Alright," she managed to get out.

Calem gave her a calming smile that eerily reminded her of Ash. "Thanks for putting things in perspective for me," he spoke gratefully before removing his hand from Serena's shoulder and facing Diantha. "Champ, can Gardevoir carry itself and three humans back to the shrine?" he asked aloud.

The champion thought for a brief moment. "If it wasn't currently unconscious, then yes, I believe it could," she decided.

"Fantastic," Calem stated, withdrawing a max revive from his pocket and tossing it to the champion. "Get ready to do that," he ordered as the champion nearly fumbled the gift.

Calem motioned for Serena to rejoin Ash, and she did. Diantha released her Gardevoir and began to use the max revive. Ash wasn't crying, but there was a definite sadness in his eyes as he looked at Calem. "Even after everything you did, this still doesn't feel right," Ash stated to the trainer.

"Good," was Calem's response. "It never should. Everything about this should feel wrong, like putting ketchup on mac and cheese. I'm sorry I robbed you of your chance to help, Ash. Also for the fact that I don't have anything cool for you to take home, since I was expecting someone else. Speaking of which, Alakazam, are you awake back there? " he called out to Alakazam.

The pokemon spoke its name once in acknowledgement. "Great. Think fast." Calem withdrew the master ball he had used to capture Suicune and tossed it in the air, prompting Alakazam to catch it with its psychic abilities. "I'd tell you to take care of Suicune with your trainer, but I hardly need to do that. Run on back to him. Diantha can handle the others."

While Alakazam seemed startled, it didn't give Calem a chance to reconsider, disappearing with the master ball almost immediately. Diantha looked up from tending to her pokemon to affix Calem with a hard stare. "We can just make Eusine release Suicune, you know," she pointed out.

Calem waved off her words. "Just make sure you ask Suicune's opinion before you do that," he implored, somewhat ominously.

Diantha said nothing and returned to her pokemon, which had opened its eyes. Somewhere in the time that this occurred, Serena realized that she had placed Sun's pokeball in her bag with her other pokeballs, without really thinking about it. Calem turned to Spike. "We're out of time, Spike. Use wood hammer on some trees. As soon as overgrow activates, we have to do this."

Spike responded quickly, launching itself at the nearest tree and savagely destroying it with ironic hammers. Serena couldn't meet Calem's eyes anymore. Second thoughts ran rampant in her mind. "Maybe we could…" she started, only to be hushed by Calem.

"Enough," he ordained. "Don't get stuck thinking about what might have been. You promised me, Serena," he reminded her.

Somewhere within herself, Serena found the strength to still her tears. "Yeah," she muttered. Ash placed his arm around Serena's shoulders comfortingly. "Thank you," he spoke to her softly.

Serena looked to him, confused. "I couldn't make that call," Ash elaborated. "I didn't want you to have to make it, but I… couldn't. I'm sorry. I couldn't be there for you."

"I don't want you beating yourself up over this either, Ash," Calem commented over the situation. "Like I said, I set this up a long time ago. This was the fate I ordained for myself. It was my decision."

"Gardevoir is ready," Diantha announced, her pokemon standing strong beside her. "We can still get you out, if you wish, Calem."

"I already told you that won't work out well," Calem responded, pulling out his key stone. "Hurry up, Spike!"

As he spoke, Spike's green aura suddenly appeared around it again among the wood chips it had created. Ash returned Greninja, a final sign to Serena that he had accepted the turn of events. With a bit of encouragement from her crush, she returned her own pokemon, placing them next to Sun in her bag. The clearing was now left with four trainers and two pokemon. Calem tossed the key to Spike, and the pokemon caught it. By now, the key had begun to glow a bright white light, as had the keystones in Diantha's and Calem's possession. "Time for you all to go," he told the trainers. "It's been real."

Serena again found it impossible to meet Calem's stare. Ash hadn't lost the look in his eyes, but he met Calem's gaze evenly. "I won't forget what you did, Calem," he promised.

There was a simple nod of acknowledgement from Calem. Diantha spoke up before he could turn around. "I never understood you, Calem, but I know you at least tried to do the right thing," she spoke. "I only wish you could have let me help you."

Calem shrugged. "Help me by fixing the leagues," he responded simply. "Tell them what happened. Find the facts about your shortcomings, and make them listen. Her cause is just, no matter when I picked it up," he requested calmly.

The champion let out a small smile from her stoic expression. "What you've done will not fall on deaf ears."

By the time Diantha finished speaking Calem had put his back to the trainers to face his pokemon, so nobody could see his reaction. "Showtime," he exclaimed, holding his keystone up for the world to see.

Spike clutched the key tightly to its body, somehow ignoring the heat from it and forming a sort of protective shell around it. The white talons of light shot out from Calem's key stone and towards the key, though no visible change came from Spike when they hit the key. Diantha got Ash and Serena to stand next to her and Gardevoir. Suddenly, Serena could feel the teleportation energy start to envelop her again, though the process was certainly much slower. _Maybe because of the number of things being moved_ she managed to reason out through her frayed thoughts. Whatever the case, it gave Serena enough time to watch as the white light from Calem's key stone continued to flow into the area where Spike held the key. The brightness continued to grow and expand, becoming hotter and brighter until it completely enveloped Spike. Unsatisfied with its conquest, the light didn't stop, expanding on until its radius had almost reached Calem. Then, all of the light was sucked into the key at once, teleportation energy rushed into Serena, and the world around her disappeared.


	22. Conclusion: Fallout

Finally, the decision had become clear to Serena: the view from the balcony during the daytime was much better than the one at night. It was partially Ash's fault, considering he had destroyed one of the lampposts surrounding the battlefield. There was also the added bonus of the daytime being calmer. She hadn't been able to see much of the effect that Calem's sacrifice had on the town, but based on how large the explosion had appeared to those at the shrine, she hadn't doubted that Cinder Town would have seen it. Officer Jenny had probably spent most of the night trying to calm the public, blaming the event on some sort of grand mistake with fireworks left over from two nights ago. _People will believe the weirdest things when they're scared._ She thought, leaning on the railing of her hotel balcony. The performer knew she should be tired after what had happened last night, but sleep evaded her. Every time she closed her eyes, Calem appeared in her head, and guilt followed him. The reality of what she had allowed the trainer to do hadn't fully sank in, and Serena was in no mood to let it. _Besides, Ash needs you to be awake._

Turning her aimless gaze from the horizon, Serena focused on the form resting in one of the beds that was Ash. He hadn't stirred once since falling unconscious after Gardevoir's teleportation. Clemont had insisted he was just exhausted, but Serena fretted anyways. It was a good distraction from what was happening around her. Clemont himself was observing both Ash and his sister's sleeping forms, absentmindedly fiddling with some mechanical contraption to occupy his hands. He and Serena had originally agreed to sleep in shifts to keep an eye on Ash, but it had turned out that neither of them felt like sleeping. When Clemont noticed that Serena was looking, he forced himself to stand and walked slowly to join her at the balcony, abandoning his work. Serena moved over to give him space on the railing. He glanced backwards briefly before closing the sliding glass door separating the room from the outside world quietly. There was silence between the trainers for a moment. "How are you holding up?" Clemont eventually asked timidly.

A sigh left Serena. "I wish Ash would wake up," she admitted.

"If we intend to move on today, he needs to wake up soon," Clemont commented idly.

Serena threw the inventor a glance. His expression was unreadable. "You think he's going to want to just leave the minute he wakes up?"

"Well, I know we haven't really discussed what happened last night, but I think we can both agree that everyone would be happier to be on the road right now," he responded. "I'd rather put the last three days behind me as soon as possible, even if we can't get far today."

The prospect of leaving caused a thought to cross Serena's mind. "What about officer Jenny's promise to have all of us arrested?" she questioned.

For a moment, Clemont stared at her strangely, then he seemed to remember something. "How much do you recall from last night after you came back from… you know," he asked her, his voice dropping off at the end.

Reluctantly concentrating, Serena forced herself to remember what had happened. "Calem was about to destroy the key. At the last second, myself, Ash, and Diantha teleported away, back to the shrine. Almost as soon as we did, there was a massive explosion from somewhere outside the shrine, and you could see multicolored light tearing into the sky in all directions from the source of the noise. I turned to Ash to make sure he was alright, then he just… passed out. We took him back here. Officer Jenny told the public the explosion was an error with the fireworks. That's... all that's coming to me," she admitted confusion at the gaps in her own memory coming to her attention.

Clemont shifted his glasses up his face as he looked down. "I suspected as much. You had this… look in your eyes when Ash passed out. It wasn't too far off from the way Ash looked when the situations were reversed in the mansion. Frankly, I'm surprised you remember anything at all. Diantha told us what happened on your side. I'm sorry you had to go through that," he sympathized.

The performer frowned. "What have I been doing for the last eight hours?" she asked, ignoring Clemont's last statement.

While Clemont was obviously somewhat uncomfortable, he found it within himself to take up a professional stance. "After you came back, there was chaos for a minute or two while the explosion happened. After that, all of Calem's pokémon, including Suicune, were successfully contained. AZ... got away. Diantha honored Calem's wish for Eusine to have Suicune, but only after Suicune itself told her that it was okay. Calem's henchmen were arrested for unrelated crimes, his other pokémon left willingly with the police once they realized what happened, and we made our way back to town, where I elected to have us spend the rest of the night here while officer Jenny got the town under control, with the help of the others." When he finished his report, he returned to leaning on the railing.

"That doesn't explain why I don't remember any of the details…" Serena wondered aloud.

Another sigh left Clemont. "Well… like I said, you were very focused on watching over Ash. So focused, in fact, that you let anyone else get close to him. We had to, um…" Clemont trailed off, uneasy.

Serena raised an eyebrow. "Clemont?" she prompted.

"I guess there's no getting around it," Clemont muttered. "Officer Jenny had to sedate you, Serena. You weren't thinking straight. You're not tired because you've barely been awake since we left the shrine. We didn't join the others in helping with the town because I was supposed to look over you and Ash. That, and I wanted Bonnie to sleep," he explained.

The information washed over the quiet performer. Clemont turned back to glance at Bonnie, and Serena noticed the bruise on his cheek for the first time. A dreadful thought occurred to her, and Clemont immediately spotted the change in her expression. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked cautiously, before realizing where she was looking. "Oh. Oh! No, this wasn't you, Serena. You were frantic, not violent. You just kept muttering to yourself about Ash and Calem. When Diantha explained what you did with Calem, she, officer Jenny and I agreed that you were at risk of going into shock and that you needed to be sedated to slow your breathing down, give your body a chance to recover. According to Diantha, it's a miracle you lasted so long before showing any symptoms of distress, though her teleportation may have been the catalyst." His explanation came fast and without pause.

With difficulty, Serena tried to recall any of the events that Clemont was reciting to her. Despite her efforts, everything after seeing Ash fall was frustratingly blank, or muddy at best. Her most recent clear memory was of her standing on this balcony, watching the moon set and the sun rise… "Wait, how long have I been on this balcony?" she questioned.

Clemont looked up at the sky. "Ever since we got here. Five hours, give or take. When we got back, you were starting to become a bit more lucid again. I tried to get you to sleep, but you insisted that you needed to watch over Ash. I told you we'd watch him in shifts and that I'd go first. You just nodded and moved to where you're standing now. You are more awake now, right?" he asked, concern in his voice.

In response, Serena pinched herself, sending a confirming spike of pain through her arm. "Yeah, I think so," she affirmed, taking the sudden feeling of soreness in her feet as further proof. "What about the others? Are they okay?"

For the first time since coming to the balcony, Clemont smiled. "Yeah, they all made it out alright. As far as I know, everyone's fine, physically at least."

There was nothing in particular Serena had to follow up her question, so she simply nodded in acknowledgement. The two looked at the view in silence for a minute while reality fully came over Serena again. _It's over. Calem's gone, and I couldn't save him. I failed him._ "I failed him," Serena spoke aloud, her new alertness causing her deeds to fully wash over her again.

A single involuntary tear ran down Serena's cheek as Clemont put a hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "Serena, there was nothing you could realistically do. Calem planned this months in advance. We couldn't do anything about it," he insisted.

Serena shook her head, throwing the tear onto the balcony railing. "He did horrible things to us. He made me choose to kill him, and I'm crying over him," she spoke aloud. "He wanted me to be like him."

"I hadn't heard that last part of the story," Clemont commented, his face contorted in deep thought. "As far as your feelings go, though, you shouldn't let them upset you. It's important to have empathy, even for someone like Calem."

The performer threw a confused glance to her friend. Clemont shrugged nonchalantly. "Calem did a lot of things wrong, but from what I can tell, his heart was in the right place. I can't forgive what he did to Bonnie, though. That's why I won't cry over him. It's just not something I can bring myself to do. But you can do it. Ash is like that, too. No matter what, he doesn't give up on seeing the good in others, no matter what they do. I don't envy you both that."

Silence took over on Serena's side. The image of team rocket and their continued relationship with Ash came to her mind. She wondered how much truth there was to Clemont's claim, that she was full of empathy. _I suppose I admire that in Ash. Have I become more like him than I thought?_ She pushed the idea out of her head for the time being, choosing instead to return to the subject of Calem. "It's not just that he's gone," she finally said. "It's that I couldn't save him. I wasn't strong enough to do anything. If Olympia's vision is accurate, something terrible is coming. Calem seemed to think so. If I can't defend myself, then I could put myself in danger, or worse, Ash, Bonnie, or you."

Clemont removed his hand from Serena's shoulder, appearing to be uncomfortable. "Have you told Ash how you feel?" he asked, changing the subject.

Surprised at the turn in topic, Serena looked at Clemont, who was looking back at her with a serious expression. She decided to humor him. _It's not like he doesn't know how I feel._ "Yes. I told him before we went to the shrine," she admitted, allowing herself a small smile at the memory.

"Judging by your reaction, I can assume it went well," he presumed.

Without a word, Serena nodded. There was a reassuring smile from Clemont. "That's wonderful news, Serena! At least something good came out of this detour," he declared, clearly trying to cheer his friend up a bit.

The smile on Serena's face disappeared. "It's not exactly the scenario that I pictured," she admitted. "I didn't want the day I told Ash how I felt to be... marred by something like this. Not to mention we got interrupted."

"I know it's not easy, but you have to try to stay positive, Serena," her friend advised. "What happened to Calem wasn't your fault. I don't know much about, well, feelings, but I know it's impossible to move forwards if you're feeling sad. Whatever motivation Calem had for what he did, I'm almost certain it wasn't to make you grieve over him. That wouldn't make scientific sense."

Making herself believe that the whole thing wasn't her fault didn't sit well with Serena. _There has to be something I could have done. There just has to have been._ Clemont rubbed the mark on his face, and Serena temporarily pushed her own worries aside. "Are you sure you're fine, Clemont? What happened while I was gone?"

Clemont didn't respond immediately, and Serena could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with the story. To be fair, Serena didn't feel like she could accurately describe the events of last night if she was told to either, not without effort she wasn't willing to put in. Just as Clemont opened his mouth to speak, there was a knock on their door. Both trainers snapped their attention to the wooden door that lead to the hall. Whoever had come to their door didn't knock again, and the noise hadn't disturbed Ash or Bonnie. Despite the fact that the threat to their safety was gone, both Serena and Clemont took caution in approaching their door. Looking through the peephole, Serena saw a woman dressed in black garb, complete with black sunglasses and sun hat. A small pink choker scarf was the only color on her outfit. Had she not recognized the clothing, Serena wouldn't have opened the door. "Diantha?" she whispered, both to avoid announcing the champion's presence and to prevent Ash from stirring.

After a quick glance down both sides of the hall to ensure nobody was around, the champion nodded. "It's good to see you all again," she greeted. "I see Clemont kept his word."

The doorway became decidedly more crowded as Clemont moved to join Serena in it. "I have to thank you for everything you did back there," Clemont thanked. "I… was uncertain what our next move was to be after you returned."

Small signs of a smile playing on the disguised champion's face. "Well, despite what others may think, you do have to have some leadership ability to be the champion of a region," she responded, a hint of pride in her voice. "You won't have to worry about any charges being pressed over what happened. As far as anyone else knows, you were all on official league business."

Clemont nodded gratefully, and a weight that Serena had nearly forgotten had been placed on her was suddenly lifted. "How's Ash?" Diantha asked, glancing past the two to where Bonnie and Ash slept.

An urge to protect her crush started to rise up within Serena, but she suppressed it. _Diantha is completely trustworthy. Relax._ "He's still sleeping," she explained bluntly. "We're planning on leaving town once he's awake."

Diantha's sunglasses shifted to reflect Serena. "I see. Serena, would you mind walking and talking with me alone for a moment? I promise not to keep you long," she requested.

Involuntarily, Serena threw a glance back to where Ash was sleeping. _Last time someone requested that, I ended up in jail. Not that Diantha knows that._ "I can look after him, Serena," Clemont promised. "If something happens, you'll be the first to know."

The words were enough to convince Serena. As much as she didn't want to leave Ash like this, he had apparently managed just fine under Clemont's care while she was in a similar state to him. Besides, it couldn't hurt to get some confirmation of what had happened from another source. Serena nodded quietly to Diantha, and the two stepped out into the hallway together. Clemont waved goodbye and closed the door behind them. Before Serena could even open her mouth to speak, the champion shook her head at her. "Don't talk here. Kathi Lee wanted to send someone to check on you, but I insisted that I had to do this myself. Come on, we can discuss things outside." She practically took off down the hallway without waiting for a response.

Startled, Serena didn't catch up to the champion until she stopped in front of the elevators Serena didn't even know the hotel had. "Where are we going?" she asked as the two waited for an elevator.

"Nowhere in particular," was the champion's helpful reply. "I just don't want to run the risk of being recognized here. People are still on edge, you know."

Serena thought about what she could remember. "Clemont said that people were able to see the explosion from town," she commented offhand as they stepped into the empty elevator.

Diantha nodded as she pushed the button for the lobby. "We spent most of the night trying to soothe the fears of the townspeople. It helped that Suicune and I were able to perform the ceremony before everything happened. I assume you remember very little of this," she presumed.

"Everything after we returned to the shrine is sort of a blur," Serena admitted, trying not to let the gap in her memory affect her too much.

Diantha raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. I was worried that you would forget everything that happened after Calem impressed his memories on you. I was shocked that you were able to think somewhat clearly after the event at all. Memory transference is extremely-" Diantha allowed the beep of the elevator reaching its destination to cut her off.

The two passed wordlessly through the lobby of the hotel, ignoring the long line of people in front of the customer service desk. Only when the hotel was no longer in view and there were no people on the street path the pair found themselves on did Diantha speak again. "As I was saying, the side effects of what Calem did tend to be far more serious than what you experienced. You were lucky that officer Jenny is used to people getting unruly during the festival, otherwise things could have gotten much worse."

Serena looked down, embarrassed. "You're making me sound like a lunatic."

"No, nothing like that," Diantha quickly reassured. "I had you sedated because you were at risk of going into shock, not hurting anyone."

Hearing it the second time didn't make the claim much more appealing to Serena, but she chose to push the thought aside for the time being. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked.

"Well, I primarily wanted to ensure that you and Ash were doing alright," Diantha explained. "But especially you."

As they continued walking, Serena checked herself over, testing body parts for life. "I think I'm okay," she decided. "Whatever side effects Calem may have induced seem to be gone."

"I'm not just talking about that," Diantha continued. "I was there. I know what happened. Be honest, Serena. Are you alright?" The champion removed her sunglasses to look the performer in the eyes.

Realizing the meaning behind Diantha's words, Serena paused in the road. Diantha stopped as well, giving Serena a troubled look. "I… haven't thought about it very much," Serena admitted.

That part was probably true. Even if Serena had been thinking about it, she didn't remember any of it now. "I wish I could forget that entire night," she decided, voicing the thought aloud without thinking.

Diantha sighed. "That's understandable. I'm not sure I want to remember Calem for the impressions he made in the past few days myself. He did force me to think about some important issues, though. For one, he wasn't lying when he said that the pokémon leagues do a poor job overall of defending the regions from larger crime syndicates. I'm planning on holding a summit to discuss these issues with the league organizers. Maybe after this year's pokémon league."

Serena listened silently. Diantha stopped, realizing that she had left the topic at hand. "Listen, Serena. I promise you, there was nothing you could do. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you can move on. Calem made his choice, and it's your choice what to do about that."

A frown formed on Serena's face. "I've been told that already, that it wasn't my fault. I keep telling myself that it's not my fault. I don't know why I keep blaming myself though." The performer tried to express her confusion in her words.

"It's going to take time," Diantha admitted. "Your life is going to have a lot of moments like this, where you're stuck looking back, wondering if you should have made one decision or another differently. I'm not promising you that the choices you make in life will get any easier, but I can promise you that, in time, you'll learn to trust yourself enough to know what the right thing to do is, and only in that way will things get easier. If there's one thing I can give Calem credit for, it's his conviction. He may not have come to the right conclusion, but he trusted himself enough to see his goals through to the end."

The champion looked off into the distance, her expression unreadable. "Have you made decisions like this, Diantha?" Serena pressed quietly.

"Too many times," Diantha responded solemnly. "The path of a trainer seeking to be the best is difficult. You make friends, lose friends, and push yourself to the absolute limit of what you are, just for a chance at something resembling success. It doesn't get easier when you reach the top. The only thing you can do up here is turn around to face everyone you've passed on your way to the top." The champion was remembering something, and Serena could garner that it wasn't pleasant.

Without warning, Diantha snapped to reality, replacing her glasses on her face. "But that's in the past. Today is a new day, and we need to make the most of it."

Serena thought on the champion's words. _This is what Calem wanted. I can't forget that. He wasn't giving me a chance to save him. It was all part of his game. He wanted me to be like him. Today is a new day. I'm not Calem. My name is Serena, and I'm never going to repeat his mistakes._ The bravado created within Serena's mind gave her the necessary courage to push down her doubts for now. She looked gratefully to the champion. "Thanks, Diantha, for checking up on me."

"Of course. But please, if you start to feel anything out of the ordinary, and you suspect that it may have something to do with Calem's act, you have to let me know as soon as possible. Here, I'll give you Kathi Lee's number." The champion pulled a card out of her pocket and scribbled a number on it before handing it to the performer.

Disbelief struck Serena. She stared incredulously at the card Diantha was holding out to her. "That's… the card Palermo gave me," she managed to get out.

Diantha smiled apologetically. "I know. I picked it up when it fell out of your pocket last night. I wanted to return it sooner, but there wasn't ample opportunity."

Serena stared at the cared. She patted her pocket just to make sure she wasn't looking at a copy, only for her to realize that her vest pocket was turned inside out. _That would explain it._ She accepted the card gratefully and placed it in her other pocket. "Thanks again, Diantha. It's funny, this card was all I could think about before we came into town, and here I didn't even notice it was gone."

The champion smiled. "You're welcome. Oh, before I go, I have a small request for you: you still have that pokémon Calem gave you, right?" she prompted.

After feeling into the part of her bag that now contained four occupied pokéballs, Serena felt comfortable nodding. _Good thing I never took my backpack off._ "Yes," she answered. "What of it?"

"I think it would be a good idea to give it to Shauna before you go," she suggested. "Besides maybe us and Ash, I'd say this whole thing has affected her more than anyone else."

Though she was caught a bit off guard, the idea didn't sound inherently bad to Serena. Shauna was certainly closer to Calem than most people, despite how he may have felt. One glaring flaw came to mind. "Wasn't one of Calem's final requests for me to have this pokémon though?" she pointed out.

Diantha shrugged. "I think he'd be happy knowing it was with Shauna. You don't have to give it to her, of course. I couldn't imagine him objecting if he was here," she spoke knowingly

After everything that had happened, Serena wasn't really sure she could correctly predict any of Calem's actions, despite having some of his memories. As she thought, a small voice within her seemed to call out, agreeing with Diantha's proposal. Remembering what the champion had said, Serena decided to adhere to the voice within her. "Alright, I'll give Sun to Shauna," she decided. "I'd like to make sure the others are alright before I leave anyways."

"You're strong, Serena," Diantha praised. "Stronger than I was at your age. "I can't wait to see you become the Kalos Queen one day."

A blush formed on Serena's cheeks. "I'll do my best," she promised.

"I know you will," Diantha said. "Now, I've got to be getting back. Kathi Lee will worry if I'm gone too long, especially now. Shauna and her friends have a room on the fourth floor, number 410 I believe. I'll see you at the pokémon league, Serena. Take care of Ash and the others for me."

With a wave, the champion disappeared, teleportation energy surrounding her and taking her in an instant. Serena was almost surprised that she wasn't surprised. _I hope I don't get used to crazy things like this. Taking down criminals, meeting legendary pokémon, working side by side with champions..._ She shook her head to herself and turned back towards the hotel. On the way there, a thought crossed her mind. _I haven't actually opened Sun's pokéball. Didn't Calem say something about it being a super strong pokémon? What if it doesn't want to listen to Shauna? What if it doesn't want to listen to me?! That would be a problem. Maybe I should wait for Ash to wake up, just in case._ Serena played with the idea for a moment, but the idea of putting him at risk when he was still recovering put her off of the idea. Eventually, she settled on trusting Calem to not give her a pokémon that couldn't be controlled. As much as she wanted to say it didn't make sense, there were a lot of things she was still trying to understand about what had happened. She continued to be lost in her own thoughts until the hotel came back into view, casting a morning shadow that caused her to take notice of the building. Keeping Diantha's directions in mind, she made her way up to the fourth floor and to room 410. The do not disturb sign was hung sloppily on the knob, but otherwise, it was the same as every other door sans the number. In this moment Serena suddenly realized that she had no idea where she currently stood in the good graces of her three friends. Silently asking for some of Ash's confidence, Serena steeled herself and knocked on the door. To her shock, the door simply opened inwards when she placed force on it. "Shauna?" came a hopeful voice from the other side of the room that Serena identified as Trevor.

"No, it's Serena," the performer responded, pushing the door open all the way now that she was certain of who was inside.

Using her perspective on the whole room, Serena could see what might as well have been an unused suite for how clean it was. Tierno was the only thing that prevented the room from being immaculate. The trainer was laying on his back on one of the beds, playing catch with himself with a pokéball. Trevor was leaning against the wall opposite the beds, tapping his foot nervously, his backpack at his feet. His hopeful look instantly died when he saw Serena. "Oh… hey Serena," he greeted halfheartedly.

Tierno hadn't reacted to the presence of a new person, and continued to toss his pokéball around. "Is Shauna not here?" she asked, not sure if she was a welcome presence after last night.

"Nope," Tierno answered briskly. "We agreed to meet up here before we all left town, but she hasn't shown. Trevor insists on waiting longer, but I'm pretty sure she's skipped town by now." There was no emotion in his voice, save boredom.

"I'm telling you, she'll be here!" Trevor insisted. "We just need to be patient. She promised she'd be here before she left."

The dancer just frowned. "We've been over this. She needs space, Trevor. The least we can do as her friends is give it to her," he explained for what felt like not the first time to Serena.

Trevor took to pacing the room, knocking his backpack over. "I'm just as thrilled about what happened as she is. She shouldn't just shut us out like this. It's not good for her." He seemed to notice that Serena was still standing in the doorway. "Did you want something?" he asked irritably.

Serena fidgeted. She wasn't sure what version of events that the two were running on, and she doubted any of them painted her in a particularly flattering light. "Look, I just wanted to speak to Shauna before we left town. Do you have any idea where she could be?" she asked.

With a grunt of effort, Tierno sat up. "Like I said, she's probably gone by now," he guessed. "But if it's important, then you can probably still catch up to her. I'd wager she's not moving very fast."

The presumption caused Trevor to stare at Tierno, infuriated. "You mean we could have been going after her this whole time?! What are we doing here then?!" he asked angrily, reaching for his backpack.

"Slow down, Trev," Tierno ordered calmly. "For all we know, she's still coming here. I'm just telling Serena what Shauna might be doing, if she isn't planning on showing. Also, staying here was your idea."

"I'm going to look for her," Trevor insisted, finishing putting his backpack on.

"No you aren't," Tierno replied lazily. "Not if you care about her,"

His statement lit Trevor's eyes with indignation. "How dare you-"

Tierno raised a hand, and Trevor actually stopped. He threw a brief glance to Serena, something akin to regret in his eyes. "We told Shauna where we would be. If she doesn't want to see us, she's not going to show up. We have to respect her wishes. She'll come back to us when she's ready."

Despite the quiet confidence of Tierno's claims, Trevor didn't seem placated. "I should be able to help her…" he muttered, standing in the middle of the room, uncertain.

Serena felt uncomfortable. She wasn't even sure that Trevor cared that she was here, which she supposed was at least better than open hostility. She decided to focus on Tierno when she next spoke. "Listen, about last night-" she started, before her own voice failed her.

As Serena struggled to find some way to verbalize an apology towards her friends without a complete memory, Tierno sighed. "I have a pretty good idea of what you're trying to say," he spoke sagely. "You don't need to apologize, to either of us. If anything, we should be apologizing to you, right Trevor?" he spoke, throwing a bit of emotion in his tone to try to jar his friend out of his stupor.

Trevor seemed to truly focus on Serena for the first time. "...Yes. I owe Serena an apology. I'm sorry, Serena. I've let a lot of people down in the past three days, you among them. I...I…" the boy appeared to be on the verge of breaking down again.

"It's just like you said, Trevor," Serena stated, causing the photographer to momentarily forget his sorrow for confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, curious.

"You said we'd always be friends, no matter what happens or what anyone does," she reminded him. "I'm still your friend, and so is Tierno and so is Shauna."

Trevor sniffled. He cast a look to Tierno, who nodded encouragingly. Emboldened, he turned to face Serena fully, his expression more controlled. "Yes, I did say that. I said that, and it's true. We're friends, and I'm not going to let anything change that," he declared to the room.

Serena gave him a smile. "If I run into Shauna, you two will be the first to know," she promised.

Tierno returned the smile. "We appreciate it. Good luck," he encouraged.

As much as Serena would have liked to linger longer and make sure her two friends were going to be alright, she couldn't afford to tarry. If Tierno was right, she didn't have long before Shauna left town. Besides, they both seemed to have taken the last 24 hours much better than Shauna, who was apparently by herself. With a wave to her two friends, Serena took her leave from their doorway. Only after she had again left the hotel did she realize that Tierno had somehow taken the role of the voice of reason from Trevor in Shauna's group of three. _Did I have something to do with that?_ She wondered idly as she made her way to the central plaza. _It would be nice to think that something good came out of all this._ As the thought came to her, Serena realized that, despite what had happened, there were several good things that had come out of the harrowing experience. Tierno appeared to have matured, Eusine had his Suicune according to Clemont, everyone's stolen things had been returned safely, and even team rocket managed to get Meowth back. _Not to mention you told Ash how you feel._ The memory of the event brought a blush to Serena's face that she fought to hide. No matter what Calem had been planning, she was certain he had nothing to do with that. The alternative was far too insane for her to even consider. By the time Serena arrived in the central plaza, she had almost managed to put herself in a good mood. This quickly evaporated when she saw three of Calem's pokémon standing in the center of the town, helping people clean up the area from the night's festivities. Instinctively, she reached into her bag, ready to launch all of her pokémon in a hopeless attempt to catch Sanity, Sand, and Six off guard, when someone behind her gripped her arm firmly. "That's not necessary, Serena," came the unmistakable voice of officer Jenny.

When they heard the officer's voice, all three pokémon turned attentively to the cop, who waved them off. "Nothing to see here. Go back to cleaning," she ordered.

Serena felt like pinching herself again as officer Jenny released her arm. Calem's pokémon returned to their task, helping people disassemble stalls and remove decorations. Serena forced herself to look away from the scene and to the person in charge. Arf sat obediently next to the evidently satisfied officer. "Good to see you up and at 'em, kid. I hope you can forgive the uh, treatment we had to give you last night. The circumstances were less than ideal," she apologized.

Words failed Serena, so she just pointed to the three pokémon that had been her enemies eight hours ago. Jenny looked at her, confused. "You don't remember? Oh wait, of course you don't. Well, that idiot Calem certainly knows how to train his pokémon. As soon as they figured out what happened, they just completely stopped fighting. Sanity even told us that it wanted to integrate itself and the others into the police force. On Calem's orders, apparently."

Dumbfounded, Serena just stared at the officer. "And you trust them? What's to stop them from simply turning on everyone and destroying the town?" she fretted.

Jenny patted three pokéballs on her belt. "I can always just return them. It's hard to destroy things from inside a tiny ball," she declared, very sure of herself.

The performer wasn't convinced. "With all due respect, officer, this seems terribly unsafe. What if they just decide to attack you?" she questioned.

At the accusation, Sanity looked up from what it was doing. Placing a box unceremoniously in Six's clawed hands, the pokémon walked up to the pair. Just by Sanity getting closer to her, Serena could feel a headache coming on. _Ungh… this feeling… it's like when Calem invaded my mind…_ Given that Sanity was the one who had allowed Calem access to Serena's mind, she realized she shouldn't be too shocked. She also decided that she didn't want to spent another eight hours on medication, and backed up from the pokémon until her headache began to subside. Officer Jenny watched the interaction curiously. "I'm not sure what's happening, but I'm guessing it has something to do with that crazy mind stuff Diantha was talking about."

Without words, Serena nodded. "Right then," Jenny confirmed to herself. "Sorry, Sanity, but I don't want you trying to communicate with Serena telepathically. If you have something you want to say, say it another time."

There was a pause from Sanity. Then, its eyes flashed with psychic energy, and all three members of team rocket suddenly appeared in between Serena and Sanity. They materialized a meter or two in the air, and as a consequence found themselves in an uncomfortable pile on the ground. After some incoherent mumbling, accompanied by very intelligible anger from Jessie, the three were able to disentangle themselves from each other and stare down Sanity angrily. "Hey, what gives, jerk?!" Jessie shouted angrily. "Don't you have anything better to do than pick on innocent bystanders?!"

Serena forced herself to bite down on a snide comment. James, while also clearly irritated, had the sense to turn to someone who could speak english. "Officer, you have no right to teleport us here against our will, especially since you can't prove anything that happened in the last hour," he argued.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that so you don't ruin my good mood," Jenny decided. "And I didn't call you here, Sanity did."

James wheeled on the pokémon, eyeing it suspiciously. "What do you want?" he asked it blunty, holding Jessie back from charging at the pokémon.

Sanity's eyes flashed, and Meowth, who seemed content to ignore the whole situation, suddenly perked up. "Really? Ya dragged us all da way back here for more twerp translatin'? Fine, but dis is da last time, ya got that? Team rocket has lives too, ya know!" he threatened without any real power in his voice.

Unperturbed, Sanity spoke its name several times. Meowth nodded to itself before turning to Serena. "Sanity apologizes on behalf of itself, its trainer, and all of his pokémon fer what happened. It was just followin' orders, but it regrets its actions anyways. It says… it and the others are trying ta make up fer dere actions by aiding da cops."

There was another brief pause as Gardevoir spoke again. "I should charge money for dis…" Meowth muttered, earning it a glare from Serena. "Alright, alright, keep your twerp skirt on. It also says that Calem wanted them ta give themselves up to da cops when all of dis was over, and dat dere very grateful to Jenny for giving them another chance. Somethin' about pokémon sticking together no matter what. Bleugh." Meowth pretended to gag.

Serena took in the information before turning to officer Jenny. "So you trust them," she proposed dubiously.

Jenny shrugged. "They all knew that I could have just stuffed them into pokéballs and been done with it. But damn it, if the idiot is going to get himself killed for all of us, the least I can do is make sure his remaining pokémon are happy." The cop looked away.

"Even after what he did to Arf?" Serena pressed, not sure how far she could push Jenny on the subject.

Officer Jenny sighed deeply. "Alright, alright, you got me. This wasn't my call. But we couldn't just let these three run off into the wild, and if they insist on being helpful, I don't have any problems putting them to work."

While the admission still didn't satisfy Serena, she could tell she wouldn't get anything else out of the officer. She turned back to Sanity, who had motioned for Six to join them. Every member of team rocket visibly cowered at the sight of the pokémon approaching them. Serena herself couldn't help but feel uneasy. She at least knew that Sanity was capable of being calm. The fire type stopped next to Sanity and glared at Serena. The performer's hand involuntarily drifted towards her bag. Sanity shook its head, and Six grunted before crossing its arms angrily. "Blaze... Blaze blaze," it muttered.

Meowth raised an eyebrow. "It's saying dat it's sorry for hurting ya," he translated. "Not dat I believe it." The additional comment earned him a terrifying glare from the fire and fighting type.

Serena felt inclined to agree as Six petrified Meowth with its death glare. Sanity's spoke again, and Meowth recovered enough to frown. "It says it'll keep its pal in check," he explained.

Despite having fifty different questions Serena wanted to ask, she knew that every minute she spent here decreased her chances of catching up to Shauna. She decided to save her curiosity for another time. "Well… thanks for the apology, Six, Sanity. I'd like to ask more questions, but I need to find Shauna," she explained.

Sanity spoke its name a few more times. "It says good luck, and ta take care of da pokémon the traitor twerp gave ya. Wait, you got one of dat guy's pokémon?" Meowth exclaimed, excitement sparking in its voice.

Officer Jenny narrowed her eyes. "I'll have my fellow Jennys keep an eye out for you three. Don't think they'll be as forgiving as I am if they catch team rocket pulling anything," she warned.

The three crooks broke the huddle they had formed at Sanity's revelation to salute mockingly. "You can count on us, officer!" Jessie exclaimed with fake sincerity.

James and Meowth nodded enthusiastically. Officer Jenny just shook her head in frustration. "Mmhmm. I think we're done with these three, Sanity."

Sanity's eyes glowed again, and team rocket disappeared. Serena silently wondered if there was a way to make them do that every time they tried to steal somebody's pokémon. Sanity and Six turned back to rejoin Sand in their work. Looking around, Serena could see that much of the evidence of the festival had already been cleared, and only a few stalls and decorations still stood. "You said you were looking for Shauna?" Jenny prompted.

Serena turned to face the officer. "Yes. You wouldn't happen to know where she is?" she asked hopefully.

Jenny shook her head. "Sorry, no. Didn't mean to get your hopes up. If I had to guess, though, she probably left out the east entrance, assuming she's planning on heading for fastest route out of town," she mused, indicating the road Serena would have to take.

 _Better than wandering around aimlessly_ Serena decided. She thanked the officer and followed the instruction given to her. As she walked briskly, she vaguely recognized her surroundings as the road that led into town from where she and the others had arrived for the first time. _That means I can at least venture part of the way out of town without getting lost,_ she mused idly. Before long, the edge of town was in sight, with still no sign of her friend. Serena sighed to herself. It was possible that officer Jenny was wrong, and Shauna had left town another way. Worse, she was just too late, and Shauna was long gone already. _Maybe I should just head back. Clemont will be worried about me, and I don't want to miss Ash waking up._ Serena had all but decided to turn around before an unfortunately familiar voice called out to her. "Don't tell me you're abandoning everyone too."

Quickly, Serena whirled around to see none other than Eusine standing behind her. While he still wore an infuriating grin on his face, the arm Calem had applied force to last night was in a sling. Even though his cape was slightly tattered and he didn't seem to be able to stand up perfectly straight, the charlatan was clearly elated. "Eusine," Serena greeted evenly. She could really care less what the man thought about her.

"Come now, there's no need for that cold shoulder!" he declared jovially. "What kind of people are we if we let the past bring us down?"

"You're just happy because Diantha let you keep Suicune," the performer guessed.

The man shook his head. "Diantha didn't let me do anything, I assure you," he insisted. "Suicune chose to follow me. You couldn't possibly understand what that means to me, to my family. Years stockpiled on years of working, hoping, and praying to achieve my family's dream have culminated in this moment. It would be dishonorable to my entire bloodline if I was unable to be amicable at the moment."

There wasn't much Serena could do in the way of argument. She had no reason to believe that Suicune hadn't chosen this man, for reasons she couldn't fathom. Her confusion found its voice. "I don't understand why Suicune would want to follow you," she admitted. "Especially after what you tried to pull with me."

Eusine paused for a moment. He withdrew the master ball containing Suicune and observed it briefly. "You drew the queen of hearts, if I'm not mistaken," he commented without looking at Serena. "In all my years, nobody has ever drawn that card when I asked them to pick a card. Impossible, you might say. The laws of probability don't allow for this. And you're right, if you assume that I ask every person who enters my tent to play. You, my dear, were different. I knew you were associated with that boy, and I knew that I needed a reason to stick around the one who can't stop seeing Suicune. So you were one of my moves to get closer to Suicune. Suicune isn't omniscient, and I'm certain that your arrival meant it was in danger. It just so happened that I was right." He pocketed the master ball and folded his one good arm triumphantly.

Serena didn't bother arguing with him. She had learned days ago that trying to change Eusine's mind about anything Suicune related was nearly impossible. She took a different tactic. "So what are you and Suicune going to do now?" she asked.

"Exactly what I promised Suicune I would do," he stated bluntly. "I'm going to travel with it, ensuring that we're where Suicune needs to be so that it can continue doing its job properly."

Something similar to pity came upon Serena. "Is that really what you want?" she asked.

"Of course," Eusine responded indignantly. "My family has always tasked itself with obtaining Suicune, not for the purpose of simply having it, but rather to protect it from those who would abuse its great power. Some in my family have succeeded, some… haven't, and I am proud to be able to say that Suicune accepts me as its trainer. Besides, this isn't dissimilar to what I was already doing. The only difference is that I'm travelling with Suicune instead of chasing it."

Eusine's words couldn't help but stir up some memories of Calem and his own purpose. She shoved the comparison aside. To Serena, Calem's purpose had been corrupted by his own misjudgement. Eusine was simply taking up what sounded like a family legacy. His claims did call a question to mind. "So other members of your family have had Suicune before?"

"Suicune allowed itself to travel with us," Eusine corrected. "On and off generations, yes. Suicune is a mysterious pokémon. Even I don't fully understand it sometimes. But that's what keeps me going. The world would be terribly dull if we knew everything after all, even about our strongest subjects."

Serena didn't respond immediately, her mind still fully coming to terms with the fact that the man in front of her not only had a legendary pokémon in his possession, but other members of his family tree had used the same pokémon in the past. "You could have led with all of this, you know," she exclaimed, somewhat angrily.

There was a shrug in response. "That would be no fun. Besides, you wouldn't believe me. Better to let Suicune speak for itself if I'm worthy or not. Even better to avoid tipping off anyone looking to harm Suicune that one of its protectors is nearby."

The man was still offputting to Serena, but she could at least see him in a different light now. Instead of a self-centered jerk, he was a self-centered guardian of something important. Had he stooped to levels that Calem had, she might have considered trying to release Suicune herself. As things stood, she wasn't in the mood to go against the wishes of a legendary pokémon. Eusine noticed her silence. "In any case, what brings you out here? When I was assigned to keep the exit clear, I wasn't expecting so many of the people who were supposed to be helping out to go through it so soon."

Hope flared up in the performer. "You've seen Shauna come through here?" she pressed hopefully.

Eusine nodded. "If you mean the poor lass who was obsessed with that traitor, then yes. Not just her, though. I also watched as-" he cut himself off when he realized that Serena had taken off down the road. "Hey, wait! When do I have to stop guarding this exit?!" he called after her.

Serena felt a little bad for ditching Eusine while they were talking, but only a little. She had to catch up to Shauna before she reached the fork in the road where they had first met Calem. If she got past that, there would be no telling which way she had gone. The simple task of trying to give Shauna a pokémon before she left town had become a mission for Serena. Given what she had been able to gather from her friends, she knew she wouldn't be able to live it down if Shauna did something dumb as a result of her sadness, or worse, someone took advantage of it. The thought inspired her to press on more quickly, and her brisk walk down the forest path turned into a jog. The jog became a run at some point, but Serena wasn't sure when. A dreadful feeling that she needed to speak to Shauna as soon as possible welled up within her, and she responded. Her speed and desire to find Shauna prevented her from noticing that Shauna was running towards her until the two collided. Both performers stumbled backwards and fell onto their backs, groaning in pain. "Shauna?" Serena managed to ask weakly.

"Serena?" Shauna asked, equally as dazed.

Serena was the first to drag herself to her feet, so she helped her friend to stand. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Why were you running back to town?"

Shauna took only a brief moment to catch her breath before speaking. "I… I can't stop here. I'll see you later, Serena!"

Before she could just run off, Serena snatched her friends arm. "Shauna, slow down for a second! I can't help you if you don't explain yourself!" she insisted.

The performer struggled to break free from Serena's grip. "Let me go! You'll let him catch up!" she exclaimed frantically.

Confused, Serena looked to where Shauna had come from. To her mild surprise, there was actually someone following her. Even more baffling was the fact that Sawyer was the one doing the chasing. Despite Shauna's protests, Serena allowed Sawyer to catch up to them. He placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. "You… run fast…" he got out between breaths.

The lack of context got the better of Serena's patience. "Does someone feel like explaining what's happening here?" she questioned, not letting go of Shauna.

In response, Sawyer held up the key stone that Calem had given him, causing Shauna to struggle harder against Serena's arm. "I was… trying to give this… to Shauna," he explained slowly. "But you ran off without saying anything. I can understand why she wouldn't want it, but I don't feel good just getting rid of it, and I can't give it to my competition."

Serena eyed Shauna. "You didn't even say no?" she asked the performer.

Shauna looked away. She had given up fighting Serena and had settled for staring angrily at her. "I don't want his stupid rock! I just want to be left alone!" she yelled angrily.

Sawyer sighed. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm putting salt in a wound, Shauna. I'm sure I can find someone else to take the stone off my hands. I just thought- "

"You thought wrong," Shauna spat. "Let me go already, Serena!"

Unable to come up with a good reason to continue holding on to her friend, Serena let Shauna go. The performer rubbed her arm, but didn't run off again. "I think you have your answer, Sawyer," Serena pointed out helpfully.

Clearly not satisfied, Sawyer frowned. "It's a shame though. I don't want to keep this key stone. I promised myself I would earn the right to use it, and I can't use this one in good faith, knowing how I got it. I can't apologize enough for having to lie to you all, especially you, Serena. If I had just told the truth from the beginning, then maybe… maybe things would have been different."

There was open resentment in Shauna's eyes. Serena recalled the advice Clemont and Diantha had given her. "Sawyer, you can't focus on the past like that," she advised. "It happened, so we have to deal with it and move forward. Today is a new day."

Sawyer seemed surprised that the advice was coming from Serena. _I guess hearing something enough times makes you really believe it. Or at least remember it._ "Huh. You're right, Serena. Hey, why don't you take the key stone! As long as you don't give it to Ash, of course," he offered, holding out the stone invitingly.

Serena started. "Really?" she asked. "What am I supposed to do with that besides give it to Ash? He can't use it either, not without a mega stone at least. Besides, he has Greninja."

"Doesn't mean you won't try to give it to him," Sawyer pointed out. "You haven't been subtle, you know."

The performer blushed a bit, but regained her composure quickly enough. "Fine, if it'll make you feel better, I'll take the key stone. Just don't expect me to be using it the next time we meet," she warned.

Gratefully, Sawyer handed the stone over. "Thanks a million, Serena! Don't worry about using it. Maybe Bonnie would like it, if you don't want it either," he offered.

Privately, Serena considered just getting rid of the thing herself. She had come all the way out here just to get rid of something Calem had given her, after all. Despite that, a key stone was a key stone, and she resolved to find some way to make use of it as she slipped it into her pocket, next to her card. Sawyer nodded gratefully one more time to the girls. "Well, thanks again Serena. And Shauna, I'm sorry to have bothered you. I hope you're, um, feeling better the next time we meet. I'll see you all at the pokémon league!" he exclaimed before heading off in the direction he came from.

Serena waved the trainer off while Shauna continued to glare at him until he disappeared from view. _He's definitely the least affected by this whole thing. That or he's the best at hiding it._ When he was definitely gone, Shauna turned irritably to her friend. "Why did you get in my way?" she questioned angrily. "I could have definitely gotten away if you hadn't run into me. What are you doing out here alone anyways?"

Realizing what had just happened, Serena felt that she may have made a mistake in going after Shauna. If she had no interest in Calem's key stone, she almost certainly wouldn't want one of his pokémon. _Maybe Tierno was right_ she mused. _I came this far, though. I have to at least try._ "Well, you see," she started, pulling out Sun's pokéball from her bag. "I might have had a similar idea to Sawyer," she admitted.

Shauna eyed the pokéball warily. "So everyone's plan is to just give me all of Calem's stuff so they can forget about him as soon as possible. I see how it is. I already told Calem that I didn't want that pokémon." She held up a hand in rejection.

"You know about Sun?" she asked, bewildered.

"Of course I do," Shauna responded irritably. "Calem tried to give it to me after he explained what he was doing. I turned him down then, and I'm turning you down now. I'm not going to feed into his stupid ruse."

Serena blinked. "Ruse? Wait, how long have you known about his intentions?"

Shauna shrugged. "Since the day we reunited. He didn't mention any of the stuff he ended up doing to you and the others, but I knew about the part with the key. Not that I believe him."

The nonchalant tone infuriated Serena. "Shauna, are you serious?! If you had told us, we could have done something about this before it happened! What were you thinking?!" Serena fought desperately to suppress the urge to strangle her friend.

"It wouldn't have changed anything," Shauna disagreed. "Besides, I wouldn't go back on a promise I made to Calem, no matter what trickery he thinks he can pull."

The strangeness of Shauna's words caused Serena to calm down enough to be confused. "You're talking about him like he's alive…" Serena muttered, almost too quietly for Shauna to hear.

"What kind of comment is that?" Shauna responded indignantly. "Of course he's alive. He's not dumb enough to give up everything for some dumb girl," she insisted.

Unease creeped over Serena. "I'm… not sure what to tell you, Shauna. I saw the explosion happen right in front of me. There's no way that Calem could have survived that."

Shauna shook her head. "To my understanding, Calem gave you his memories as well. You should know then that he's not stupid enough to throw his life away on a whim like that. He's alive. I know he is."

Serena wasn't sure what to say. Shauna sounded so convinced that her friend was alive, she almost began to doubt herself. _No,_ _I can't let her go on thinking like this. It's only going to make things worse._ "Shauna… you know he did what he did because of that girl," she explained hesitantly. "I never saw anything in his mind that would suggest he was willing to sway in his conviction to her cause. I hate to say this to you, Shauna. You're one of my best friends, but I can't let you go on in denial like this."

A pause was Shauna's initial response. "No. He would never just leave me like that. He showed me how he felt. He's not that kind of person!" her voice, initially wavering, became confident again.

Thinking of ways to convince her friend, Serena glanced down the road leading into town. "You know, Trevor, Tierno, and the rest of us are worried about you. Why don't you come back with me? We can talk about this together and maybe-"

"There's nothing to talk about," Shauna interrupted. "Calem is out there, waiting for me. I have to go find him. I'm not letting you or anyone else stand in my way. You're welcome to believe whatever lies he spouted out to you. I'm not going to be fooled."

For a brief moment Serena decided to indulge her friend. "If you're so certain that he's lying to all of us, then why are you so committed to finding him?" she asked.

"He only lied because he doesn't think anyone should follow him. He pulled this trick four and a half years ago. It's not going to work again. This time, I'm coming with him, no matter what."

The determination in her voice sounded something like Ash to Serena. If Shauna wasn't promising to find a dead man, she would have been impressed rather than concerned. "Look, Shauna, I don't know what else I can say. Calem's gone. We have to accept the choices we made and try to move on, instead of letting this hinder us."

"If you don't know what to say, then say nothing," Shauna responded coldly. "The next time we meet, I'll have Calem with me. Then we'll see who's not accepting the truth, Serena."

Without waiting for Serena to say anything, Shauna turned on her heel and marched off, back in the way she had come. Serena intensely considered following her, but eventually decided against it. For whatever reason, she had become dead set on the fact that Calem was alive and well, and nothing she tried in rebuttal seemed like it would change her mind. _I should at least tell Tierno and Trevor what happened. They'd know how to talk sense into her._ In a strange feeling that Serena instantly regretted, she felt grateful that she at least had accepted the truth of the situation and the result of her actions. Trying to find something else to think about, she realized that she still had Sun's pokéball in her hands. Throwing caution to wind in order to find a distraction for her mind, she tossed the pokéball out in front of her. Serena wasn't certain what to expect, but when the white light that emitted from the pokéball disappeared, she couldn't help but gape a bit. Much to her surprise, the extremely tough pokémon that Calem had hyped up as unbeatable was a small white pokémon wearing a green helmet that looked as threatening as a slurpuff. She pulled out her pokédex as the pokémon in front of her stretched and yawned lazilly.

 _Ralts, the feeling pokémon. Ralts is highly attuned to the emotions of people and pokémon. It hides if it sense hostility._

The ralts named Sun wasn't trying to hide, so Serena could only assume it didn't think she was hostile. _Huh._ _This might actually work out. Sun isn't nearly as dangerous as Calem made it out to be. I was worried I would be stuck with a pokémon I couldn't control. Maybe I can train it after all!_

Serena knelt down to the level of the pokémon. "Hi there, Sun. My name is Serena. Do you… remember your other trainer?" she asked slowly.

Sun appeared to be startled that Serena was there, but calmed down quickly. It looked at her curiously when she spoke, and when she asked the question, the pokémon nodded slowly, almost losing its balance. Serena wasn't sure if that was good news or bad news that Sun knew who Calem was. "Well, in that case, he decided that he wanted me to train you from now on. Is that alright?" she asked politely.

Again, Sun seemed transfixed by Serena's face, and it only broke its stare to nod slowly again. _Okay, so it's a little strange, but if it's okay with being my pokémon, I can't just say no to it._ She gave her newest partner a warm smile. "Great, Sun. I'll introduce you to the others." As she reached into her back to retrieve her other pokéballs, a familiar pokémon sounded off in the air above her.

"Flame talonflame!" came the cry from what could only be Ash's talonflame as it flew like an arrow through the sky. The pokémon paused in the air when it had reached where Serena was and began circling. Serena sighed and left the pokéballs in her bag. "Looks like someone got overexcited when he realized I wasn't there. Sorry, Sun, you can meet the others later." Despite her words, Serena was secretly happy to see that Ash cared, even if he was being a little overprotective. Serena raised a hand and waved to Talonflame. "Can you lead us back to Ash?" she called up to the bird pokémon.

Talonflame called out its name and took off again once more, this time much more slowly, and closer to the ground. Serena smiled to herself. _At least now we can get out of town and Ash can get back on track._ She turned to her new pokémon. "Come on, Sun. I've got some people for you to meet."

Sun had been watching the circling Talonflame curiously, but it snapped to attention when its trainer spoke. Privately Serena wondered how much experience Sun had with the outside world. For all she knew, Calem had just kept it in its pokéball since he caught it. _I guess it doesn't matter that much. We won't be doing much battling, hopefully._ Despite its size, Sun was able to keep up with the reasonably decent pace Serena and Talonflame set. The trio made it back into town rather quickly, and Talonflame made for the pokémon center. When said center came into view, Serena was greeted by the sight of her three travelling companions standing around the entrance. Clemont was the only one of the three who appeared to be relaxed, with pensive expressions adorning Bonnie and Ash's faces. When they noticed Talonflame, Bonnie was the first to realize that Serena had followed Ash's pokémon. The performer braced herself, but she was still nearly bowled over by the force of Bonnie's hug. "Serena! You're feeling better!" she exclaimed loudly.

Serena couldn't help but smile at the girl's enthusiasm. "It's good to see you too, Bonnie," she greeted warmly.

Suddenly, the girl let go of her friend, the sight of the pokémon next to her catching her attention. "Whoa, what's that? Is it yours?" Bonnie asked, getting right in Sun's face.

"That's… well that's the pokémon that Calem gave me," Serena admitted, a bit self-conscious.

To Serena's surprise, Sun didn't seemed bothered by Bonnie's presence, even when Bonnie's expression darkened at the mention of Calem's name. "It doesn't look like one of his scary pokémon," Bonnie commented dubiously, looking at every angle.

"I'd say Calem tricked us again," commented Ash casually.

The trainer locked eyes with the performer. There were a million things Serena wanted to say to her crush, and she could tell he felt the same way. There was an inviting smile on his face, but his eyes betrayed something more somber. What ended up happening was an unofficial staring contest between the two, with nobody knowing exactly what should be said next. Bonnie finally stopped inspecting Sun long enough to notice the awkward interaction between her friends. "Hey, you guys should-" Bonnie tried to say before a hand was placed firmly over her mouth by Clemont.

"Bonnie, I need your help gathering some of my things from the pokémon center. Let's go take care of that right now, okay?" he asked, not really implying that Bonnie had a choice in the matter.

Bonnie forced Clemont's hand away from her, but didn't finish what she was going to say. Instead, she gave Serena a knowing smile as Clemont practically dragged her into the pokémon center. Ash and Serena stood alone with Sun on the path where several arguments had been held over the past few days. Pikachu gave up its position on its trainer's shoulder to greet Sun. Sun shook hands with Ash's starter, but didn't seem particularly interested in whatever conversation Pikachu was trying to have with it. After watching their pokémon interact for a moment, Ash decided to try to break the silence again. "Do you want to sit on a bench?" he asked quietly.

Wordlessly, Serena nodded, and the two sat on a bench across from the pokémon center. Another silence fell upon them. Sun moved to sit down at Serena's feet, but a word from Pikachu caused it to remain near the pokémon instead. Ash eyed it curiously. "Clemont said that you were trying to pass Sun off to Shauna after we talked to Trevor and Tierno," he spoke, the unasked question hanging in the air.

Serena met Ash's eyes. "I tried. She didn't want it. She claimed that Calem was still alive, and that it was her duty to go find him."

Ash frowned. "That's not good. After all of this, I couldn't understand wanting to follow him like that," he commented. "We should go after her,"

Serena sighed. "If she really feels the way that, well, I feel about you, then I could see where she's coming from," she hypothesized. "I've already tried to convince her. She's dead set on this idea. I was hoping Tierno or Trevor could do something about it."

"... I see. Makes sense to me. You think her feelings for Calem are comparable to yours for, um, me?" he questioned.

Realizing what she had said, Serena blushed. "Well... yes," she admitted. The idea of Ash knowing her feelings was still a bit foreign to her, and the words felt strange coming out of her mouth, but she knew they were true.

Ash raised an eyebrow. "I hope you wouldn't keep travelling with me if I did the things that Calem did. I especially hope you wouldn't think I'm still alive if I died." He let the last sentence go with just a hint of teasing in his tone.

"Don't talk like that," Serena only half-joked. "Shauna needs our help, and I'm worried she's going to push all of her friends away. She's not taking this very well."

Ash placed his hand over Serena's. His hand was warm. "How are you taking it, Serena?" he asked, seriously.

Serena looked at the concern written all over her crush. "I'm going to be fine," she insisted. "According to Diantha, most of the effects of what Calem did have already passed. The cuts on my hands and face aren't that bad either," she responded a bit too quickly.

"You know that's not what I'm talking about," Ash spoke in a voice that bordered on chiding.

Surprised that Ash was already getting better at reading her, Serena stared at the trainer. Here was one of the only people in the world that she should be comfortable being completely open with. With that thought in mind, she pulled Ash into a tight embrace and wept.

Time passed, probably. The only things Serena felt certain of were the facts that she was holding onto Ash and that she was crying. Ash was saying something to her, but she couldn't properly hear him. All the stress she had bottled up for one reason or another from the last three days was leaving her in tears. She couldn't even focus on why she was crying, so she cried until she wasn't crying anymore.

Some time after the tears stopped, Ash gingerly separated himself from Serena enough so that they could look at each other. "Feeling better?" he asked.

Serena nodded. "Yeah. I'm... I'm sorry you have to deal with this, I just-"

"I'm always willing to be a shoulder for you to cry on. I meant what I said to you yesterday," he interrupted softly.

The pain of Serena's experience dulled slightly at the memory of her moments with Ash. She said the only thing that came to mind. "I'm not going to accept Palermo's offer," she got out, barely audible.

The barest hint of a smile played on Ash's face, but he forced his expression to remain neutral. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sure," Serena whispered.

"Okay," Ash replied simply, before leaning in and placing a kiss on Serena's lips.

Serena couldn't have turned more red if she tried. Next to her, Sun seemed to be getting excited about something, but she couldn't even begin to force herself to look away from what had just happened. "A… Ash… w-what… why..." she stammered.

"Just take it as a promise from me," Ash explained, somehow maintaining a neutral expression. "I promise you I'm going to be strong enough so that you don't have to cry again." There was a small amount of regret in his eyes.

Despite how flustered she was, Serena managed to catch the meaning behind Ash's words. "Ash, you did everything you could. It's not your fault," she insisted, again parroting words given to her.

Ash looked down. "If I had been stronger, you wouldn't have had to make the choice you had to make. I can't stand the thought of failing you," he mumbled.

Serena sighed. "How about we make a promise together, Ash," she suggested.

Ash returned his gaze to the performer, an eyebrow raised. "What kind of promise?" he asked curiously.

A smile played on Serena's lips. "It's kind of long, but here goes. I'm going to achieve my goals. One day, I'm going to be the Kalos Queen, and my pokémon are going to be known throughout the world as some of the greatest performers ever. You're going to be the best pokémon master, like noone ever was," she paused to draw breath.

"Alright?" Ash agreed, confused.

"Hold on, this is the important part," Serena explained. "I want us to promise that we're going to find a way to achieve these goals together. If you can do that, then it doesn't matter how strong either of us are right now. We'll never give up until we fulfill our promise." The words had been rehearsed over and over in her head before, but saying them still took nearly all of Serena's focus.

Ash allowed a smile to return to his face. "I think I can make that promise," he agreed warmly.

While the first kiss had been spontaneous, both parties knew exactly what would happen next this time. Unfortunately, neither one of them accounted for the sound of giggling coming from the door of the pokémon center. Both trainers whirled around to see Bonnie staring at both of them through the doorway, a silly grin on her face. "Don't stop now!" she called out, giving Serena a thumbs up.

The two trainers looked exchanged a look. "Does the promise still count?" Ash asked.

Serena smiled playfully. "Do you love me, Ash Ketchum?" she asked, the moment giving her a surge of confidence.

Ash blushed and rubbed his nose. "Well, of course I do! I mean, I thought that when I, you know-"

The trainer's poor attempt at an explanation was cut off by Serena's lips meeting his. Nothing in Serena's time spent dreaming about the moment could have prepared her for the surge of emotion that welled up within her. It didn't matter that Bonnie was watching. Calem had tried and failed to make her see things his way. She knew who she was. She would achieve her dreams by working with Ash instead of following him. This and hundreds of other thoughts sprinted through Serena's head in an instant as she made contact with Ash. When she let go, she gave the stunned boy a serene smile. "Then the promise counts."


End file.
